Jealous of the Moon
by xxAwesomeLucyxx
Summary: Squad 10 stumbles upon Lorraine Arashi on the outskirts of the Leaf Village with Shikamaru ending up investigating. But he gets more than he bargained for in the young kunoichi with a troubled past. Shikamaru/OC. Rated for language and violence. Complete
1. Chapter 1

Name: Lorraine Arashi

Age: 14

Origin: Village Hidden behind the Storm

Ninja Rank: Officially Chunin, but passed test for Jounin

Height: 5 ft 6 in

Weight: 130 pounds (all muscle baby)

Hair: Wavy black. Reaches down to the end of her shoulder blades and is cut into long layers. When she is fighting, it is put in a pony tail and secured with a dragon clip. Otherwise, it is worn straight down

Skin Tone: Light olive. Not Italian but not vampire white either.

Eyes: Blue-grey, but look black most of the time because they are squinted. Thick eyelashes.

Skills:

Taijutsu: Trained in the Storm village style, which concentrates on hitting pressure points, major muscles, and important bones hard enough to do serious damage.

Ninjutsu: Concentrated on lightining and wind attacks like other members of the Storm village ninja. Learned a little fire jutsu from her cousin Kyo the blacksmith.

Genjutsu: Only enough to defeat most lower level genjutsu.

Summonings: Has defeated and is able to summon almost every dragon located in Dragon Mountain, home of her native village.

Note: Lorraine is such a good ninja that she was being groomed at the new Dragon Keeper of her village.

Weapons.

Dragon's Fang: Her father's katana. Has an almost blue hue to the steel and the pommel is electric blue. Very heavy. Used as a conductor for electric and fire attacks.

Dragon's Wing: Mother's battle fan. Has a winding silver dragon design on a dark blue background. Used to manipulate wind, store chakra, and assist in summonings. Metal ribs are razor sharp.

Outfit:

A short black kimono with silver obi and silver lining on sleeves and neck line. The kimono itself is made of silk, a layer of chain mail and another layer of silk. Chain mail made by Kyo the blacksmith. Black under shorts that go down to the knee with a shuriken pouch. Combat boots and fingerless gloves with a metal face plate. Sword is worn at her left hip and fan hidden in her left sleeve.


	2. Chapter 2

~With Squad 10~

One cloudy autumn morning, I was coming back to the Village Hidden in the Leaves from a particularly boring mission. _What a drag, _I thought, _We had to bring a stupid cat back to some old lady six hours walk from here. Why do old people have to be so troublesome?_

That's when I noticed a tiny plume of smoke from a campfire coming up. Of course, Choji, my best friend and teammate, noticed the smell of food too.

"Hey Shikamaru, can we stop for a snack, I'm starving?" He asked, eyes wide.

Ino, being the troublesome woman she is, shrieked at the top of her lungs "We only have thirty minutes until we get home. Can't you wait?"

_Well, we should do some reconnaissance and see who could be out here only half an hour away from the village at this late at night, _I pondered. "Okay, let's see who owns that campfire, and then we will make our way home so we can report to Asuma-sensei."

So we made our way into the trees as quietly as we could.

~With stranger~

_I'm glad I stopped before it started to rain. At least I can get a good meal in before trying to find that damn village. _I thought as I started unpacking for the night. _I can sense that this is going to be a long one. The lightning is getting closer. And so are three people. Seems like they want to see what I am doing here. As long as they don't bug me, I won't have to tell them off. _So I waited a few minutes while setting up the tent and got a tiny fire going. That's when I heard a stomach rumble from behind a copse of trees.

"You three can come out now; I promise I don't bite much." I yelled in the direction of the people were.

Out came girl of average height with long, blonde hair in a ponytail, with a wisp of it covering her eye. Behind her was a short, chubby kid who was obviously the one who's stomach and growled by the way he was holding it. Then came the one who was definitely the leader: a boy with a ponytail, earrings, and a very bored look on his face. All three were soaked to the bone and had Leaf Village headbands.

Again, the poor chubby kid's tummy made an awful sound, which made me feel a little sorry for him. And pity was an emotion I rarely felt for anyone except when they were hungry. So I did something I had not done in a while. "Hey, if you two boys get some firewood, and girly there helps me out, I'll make you some dinner."

By the way Tubby's eyes lit up and how Mr. Boring just sighed, I knew my offer was going to be taken.

"How much firewood will you need Miss?" asked Tubby.

"Enough to keep the fire going for an hour or two." As the boys walked off, I heard one mumble an almost incoherent 'what a drag.'

Blondie came up behind asked and asked what I needed her for. "Get out a kunai and start cutting these almonds into thin slivers," was all I said. While she did that, I pulled a pot out of my pack and put some water in it, then put it over the fire. As it began to boil, the boys came running back with firewood aplenty. Well, the chubby one ran while the other one kind of moped. Everyone sat around the fire in silence.

I added some rice to the water and as it cooked, I pulled out some cinnamon, sugar, bowls, and plates. "Pass me the almonds Blondie." I smiled in satisfaction as a vein in her forehead started pulsing. _Hehe, she is way too easily annoyed. _Then I took out a nice big spoon and a jar of golden honey. I added all the honey, most of the almonds, a pinch of cinnamon, and sugar to the rice and mixed it with the spoon. All it needed done after that was to be put on some plates. "Bonapetite!" I exclaimed, passing it out.

Tubby dug into it without even a thank-you. Blondie had more manners than him and even waited until everyone was served. But Bored just sat there looking at the food like it was poisoned. So I leaned over with my trusty chopsticks, grabbed a bite from his bowl and popped it in my mouth.

"Is that enough proof that I didn't try to poison your food Mr. Bored?"

"My name is Nara Shikamaru of the Hidden Leaf Village shinobi," he retorted as he began eating.

Remembering their manners, Blondie introduced herself as Yamanaka Ino, and Tubby ended up telling me over a mouthful of food that he was Akimichi Choji. "My name is Arashi Lorraine, of the Hidden Storm Village. I am also a shinobi," I replied.

As all of us finished, I said bluntly, "Well, now that I fed you guys, I want some answers. One: how far am I away from the leaf village? Two: since you guys made me use up all my honey, does the Leaf have a bee farm? Three: how did you guys like my special sticky-sweet rice? And four: why were you guys spying on me?"

Shikamaru was sort of tripped up by the way I ordered the questions so Ino said, "Well, we are about thirty minutes away from the village gates. And we do have a bee farm, but you can just shop in the market stalls."

I let out an all-merciful shriek. As everyone jumped up with kunais at hand, I punched the ground and fumed "Ugh! I set up camp in the pouring rain and I am only a couple minutes from the freaking Leaf Village that I have been traveling for weeks to get to! Damn it all!" Everyone calmed down after my sudden outburst, with Shikamaru mumbling 'troublesome woman'.

When he said that, I got an inch from his face, put on a very scary smile with a kunai in hand and said ominously "Oh, you think this is troublesome? You haven't even seen half of how troublesome I can be." Just to make sure the message was clear, I licked the blade of the kunai and threw it into the ground between his fingers.

Shikamaru was obviously a little freaked out by the sudden schizophrenic change in personality. But that was when he noticed the ground I'd punched was actually a rock. _I didn't see her use any chakra manipulation at all, but her fist is still imprinted in the ground, and she doesn't seem affected at all by it. Her knuckles aren't even red or scratched. No matter how friendly Lorraine may be, she is still a dangerous and unknown element._

Of course, I didn't even notice the fist shaped imprint in the ground when Choji began praising my cooking. "Oh, it was absolutely delicious. The right balance of sweetness, but still a filling meal. You should open a restaurant, Lorraine-san!"

I switched from angry to flattered and replied "You're too kind, Choji! And you may call me Lorraine. There is no need for honorifics." Then you went back to serious, "Now, why were you spying on me?"

Shikamaru had finally recovered enough to say, "We saw a campfire a little while away from our village, and wanted to know why someone set up camp there when they could be in a sheltered inn." _That was a good answer. It didn't tell me too much, but enough to keep me satisfied. I wonder if that was their real reason_.

"Okay then, tell me which direction the village is please, so in the morning I can find my way there." And so they did, and with bowed thanks from Ino, they walked out of the clearing.

_I wonder why she is here. A shinobi of that power could easily be here to scope out the village. But if she was, then why did she keep us alive? And why would a Storm ninja come out here, at least a three weeks journey, all by herself? That woman is trouble. I can sense it._ Shikamaru contemplated as he made his way back home.

And he doesn't even know the half of it.


	3. Chapter 3

~Lorraine's POV~

I could feel the sun coming out above the dew covered tree line. "Damn, is it morning already? I hate mornings, with a passion. A fiery, loathsome, burning passion. Yeah, go screw yourself mornings." I fumed as I packed everything I owned into my giant pack. As I dowsed the fire, I continued aloud, "Now, what do I have to do today? 1) Go to the Leaf Village. 2) Find Cousin Kyo. 3) Find a place to stay, if I don't happen to want to live with Kyo. 4) Visit the Hokage. 5) Find a job. 6) Get some more honey from the market. Damn! How am I going to do all this in one day?"

Sensing that someone was coming this way, I continued to pack as I said "Hey Shika! What are you doing out here this early in the morning, you lazy bum?" When he jumped out of the trees, he looked quite annoyed.

"What did you just call me?" He asked.

"Lazy bum?" I answered, stopping my packing.

"No, the other thing!"

"Oh, Shika?"

"Yeah, that." The boy looked confused and irritated.

"What, I couldn't remember what your name was. Is it Shikanara?"

"No! It is Shikamaru, you troublesome woman."

"See, you would have freaked out if I called you Shikanara. Whatever. You still didn't answer my other question." I resumed packing.

"What question was that?" Shikamaru asked, walking closer to me. He seemed to have calmed down.

"Why is someone as obviously lazy as you out here at 5am?"

"I told Asuma-sensei about you, and he wanted me to make sure you got to the village okay." _More like make sure the village is okay because you are there. _ He thought.

~Flash Back with Shikamaru~

After Ino and Choji had left for their houses, I had gone to Asuma-sensei's house to report. When I knocked on the door, Asuma came up with a cigarette in his mouth and said "So Shikamaru how was the mission?"

"Successful. We gave the old hag that cat back."

"Well, then why does it seem like you think something else is 'troublesome' right now?" The old man always knew when something was up. That in itself was troublesome.

"On the way back here, we saw a campfire started about half an hour away from the village, so we investigated. A kunouchi* from the Storm Village named Lorraine Arashi set up camp not knowing she was so close to the village. She sensed us in the trees and invited us to eat with her. Then she asked us some questions, and we left."

"What is so strange about that?" Asuma asked curiously, letting out a stream of smoke.

"Well, the thing is, when we told her that she was only half an hour away from the village, she completely freaked out! She punched a slab of rock with her bare fist and left an imprint of it in it. But the weird thing is, she didn't use any chakra to enhance the punch at all. And she didn't even flinch."

Sensei's attention was caught at that. "That is a little weird, but she could be so good at keeping her chakra hidden, you might not have been able to sense it. Did you sense that she was a shinobi before that?"

I thought about it for a moment and replied with "No, now that you mention it. It seemed like she barely had any chakra at all."

"Do you know if she is coming to the village?"

I nodded. "Yeah, tomorrow at some point."

"If you really think she is something to be worried about, then track her. Now let me get some piece and quiet. Some advice though: if she is that good of a shinobi, she will wake up at the crack of dawn and you probably won't find her again. So get to her before she reaches the village." He closed the door behind him, leaving me outside.

_That means I have to wake up long enough before dawn to get ready, and then find her in that clearing on the side of the road again. What a drag. _I thought at I left his apartment building.

~End Flash Back, Lorraine's POV~

"Aww, isn't that just sweet of you! Where are your other team mates?" I said expectantly. I wanted to annoy the blonde again.

"I don't need Ino and Choji to bring you to the village." Shikamaru murmured with all of the stubbornness that has been bred into his gender.

_Maybe I can get him to help me with my to-do list. Let's wait and see, _was the evil thought that popped into my head.

"Okay, Shika, lead the way!" I said with gusto, but a little sarcasm was hidden in that particular tone.

About twenty (not thirty, stupid liars) minutes later, the two of us arrived at the Village Gate. One of the guards asked for my passport, and I obliged after having to rummage to the very bottom of my pack. When I showed it to him, he got a funny look on his face, looked at me again, and then let us through. _1) Go to the Village, check. I wonder what that was about though. Maybe it was my picture. I can't look that bad!_

When I looked at the passport, I didn't see anything wrong. So I showed it to Shikamaru for his opinion. "Hey Shika, does my picture look funny or something?"

He looked at it, looked away, then looked back and almost passed out.

"What the hell!" he screamed, backing away from me. Then I remembered I had put a genjutsu on it as a trick on the poor sucker who looked at it. But for the life of me I couldn't exactly remember what they would see.

"Shika, what did you see?" I asked, truly curious what would make this laid back dude freak out so much.

After blushing a hundred shades of red, he said "Hm…Nothing…"

"Oh sure it was nothing. Was I killing someone or something?" I asked.

"No, it was…um…you eating ramen." Shikamaru mumbled. His feet shuffled underneath him.

"That was the worst lie ever doofus." Then it clicked. "It was me kissing you, wasn't it? Are you shy or something? Wait. Oh, shit. Where was I kissing you?"

"No! No, it was you… licking my cheek." I never thought anyone could go that red without their brain exploding.

"Oh good, I remember I almost had it so… never mind. I don't want to rot your innocent little mind," I said as he shuddered. _Glad I didn't, though. He probably would have run for the hills if I had._

Then he said "Okay, well we are in the village. I am going home and going back to bed."

_And to get that nasty image out of my head, _the Leaf shinobi thought.

When he turned around, I grabbed him by the shoulder and put on my best puppy dog face. "Please, Shika, I need your help."

The look of uncertainty on his face was absolutely priceless when he mumbled "What do you need help with?" _Ha! No one can resist the puppy dog pout._

"I need to find my Cousin Kyo. Do you know where he is?" I asked.

His face went blank again. "Woman, this is a very big village so I don't know everyone here. You need to be a little more specific. Kyo who?"

"Kyo the Blacksmith." I answered nonchalantly.

"The Kyo the Blacksmith, the one who makes some of the finest ninja weaponry on the entire continent?" he said looking mystified.

"Yeppers. He still owes me some money he lost to me on a bet. Stupid cheapskate cousin. Don't know why his nice wife would even want to be part of the family." I complained loudly. Honestly, I couldn't. The man could be such a jackass sometimes.

Obviously, Shikamaru knew where the shop was because he weaved in and out through the streets with the ease of practice.

A few minutes later, I saw a big fancy black and red sign that said "Dragon's Forge" in big, bold, old English style letters. _Had to make the sign real fancy, right Kyo? Flaunting your 'extraordinary' ability with fire. Loser._ I mused. His control over the element was the reason he was so good as a smithy. The best, really.

Curious, I asked "How did you know how to get here so fast?"

"I live right on the other side of the…damn," Shikamaru murmured when he realized I now knew where he lived. _Let the cat out of the bag._

"Okay. Now that I know where to find you, if I need help, I will come and get you Shika!" I said with the obvious intent of letting him know that what he said would haunt him for the rest of his life. He just walked off with a 'troublesome woman' floating in the air behind him. I didn't walk into the shop until I made sure I heard a loud door bang shut. _I can already annoy so may people in this village. How delightful!_

I then walked into the shop and screamed "Cousin Kyo! Your adorable baby cousin is here to see you!"

I let a satisfied smirk cross my lips when I heard a loud crash and him yell "Shit, the twerp is here. I hope she forgot about the bet." Then I saw Mila, Kyo's cute and tiny wife come skipping down the stairs to embrace me in a ferocious bear hug.

"Lorraine, you are here! You have grown up so fast! Kyo, get your lazy ass down here! You have got to be hungry, let me make you some breakfast." She ran off before I could protest. I shuddered at her schizophrenic change of personality when speaking with her husband.

Kyo came stomping up the steps behind the counter in his blacksmith's apron. As usual, it was a staring contest between the redhead and me before we walked up and gave each other a hug. But even this wasn't without competition: he would squeeze me and then I would squeeze back twice as hard. Right before both of us were going to pass out from lack of oxygen to the brain, Mila came in and trilled "Breakfast is ready!"

At that, both of us let go and ran to the dining room (a race of course). Then we stuffed our faces, seeing who could eat the most food without barfing. We ran out of food before that.

The red headed man and I both leaned back and waited for someone to break the silence. Of course, since I had had almost no human contact for weeks, I could wait much longer.

"Why didn't you tell us you were coming, twerp. I would have met you at the gate so you wouldn't have to deal with the guards. Your parents would kill me if you got a single scratch on you."

At that, my eyes got cold and my demeanor completely changed. "That is why I am here, Kyo. Mom and Dad are dead. The Star village killed them in an assassination attempt on the Dragon Keeper." My cousin looked dumb founded.

Mila ran up to me, turning me around and wrapping me in a soothing hug. She cooed like she would to a baby. "I'm so sorry. It must be terrible for you. It will get better, I promise."

She repeated that little mantra repeatedly until Kyo finally overcame his shock.

Furious, he gripped the table and ground out from between his teeth, "Why weren't we told sooner? I would have come and got you myself! Those freaking elders shouldn't have let you out of the village! That is why I left in the first place. They are so self-righteous." He ranted.

After unwrapping myself from Mila's arms, I told him what happened in hushed tones. Then I pulled out the Dragon's Fang and the Dragon's Wing for him to inspect.

At the sight of the masterful steelwork, he said, "Well, the fracture in the rib of the Wing can be easily fixed, as well as the chip taken off Fang. At least they were lucky enough to make it through."

"Down to business then." I said, trying to distract myself from the pain in my chest. "I need an apartment of my own, because I can't stand the constant banging of metal on metal around here. Last time I stayed, I couldn't sleep for the whole two weeks. Is there any place around here with apartments?"

Mila said, "Well, right behind that house across the street there is an apartment complex. They might have one open. But since you won't live with us, at least let us pay your rent until you get settled."

"Okay. I'll head over right now to check if they have any rooms available. Oh, and Kyo, I want Fang and Wing repaired free of charge. You still owe me two grand on that bet we made. So I want it, and I know you remember you cheapskate." I didn't feel guilty at all for taking so much money from them because Mila's family was rich, and having the best blacksmith alive as your husband racks in the dough pretty fast.

_2) Find Cousin Kyo. Check._

I walked to the apartment complex, which had a wonderful view of Kyo's shop, Shika's house, and the rest of Konoha. Luckily they had a few rooms on the top floor available. I took the one with two bedrooms, 1 ½ bath, a kitchen, and a balcony. Everything was beautiful, and the rent was surprisingly cheap too. Probably because I could still kind of hear the racket from Kyo's forge.

_3) Find a place to stay. Check. This is taking way too long. It is 3 pm already._ _Well, I want to find Shikamaru, because he might be able to tell me how to get in touch with the Hokage. Off to find Shika!_

I just jumped out of the seventh story window onto the roof of the Nara Household. Then I leaped to the front door, did a transformation jutsu to make me have blond hair, and knocked. I heard a woman scream "Why are there so many people at the front door selling useless crap!" I almost wet myself when I thought how dead I was going to be when a sweet lady opened the door.

I shook the fear out of me. "Hello ma'am, would Shikamaru Nara happen to live here?" I said with my sweetest, kindest, and most sickeningly polite voice.

"Why yes he would," she replied. "May I tell him who is asking for him?"

"Of course, how rude of me. I am Arashi Lorraine. It is a pleasure meeting someone of the esteemed Nara Clan." I tried for flattery, just going for the gold.

"Why, thank you. I am Shikamaru's mother. One moment, and I will tell him you are here." She replied. The door closed. Then I heard a thundering voice yell "Shikamaru! A polite young woman is here to see you. Get down here, now!"

I smirked as I heard someone practically falling down a flight of stairs and say meekly "Mom, I was right in the middle of hiding from this nut-job who is related to Kyo."

"Don't worry, this girl is way too polite to be crazy. Besides, anyone who is related to someone who has hair as red as Kyo's can't be blonde."

With an audible sigh of relief at the blonde bit, he opened the door and almost fell over. "Hi Shikamaru. It was wonderful meeting you Mrs. Nara." I said as Shikamaru pushed me aside against the wall and slammed the door behind him.

"What are you doing here? And why do you have blonde hair now?" he said frantically and right up in my face.

"Is that any way to greet a friend? I said I would probably be by to ask you for some help. Oh, and I just love confusing people." I said, swishing my now golden blonde locks.

He just stared in exasperation, so I undid the jutsu and had my raven's black hair back. "Oh, Shikamaru, I absolutely love your pajamas. Black boxers with smiley faces go so well for you." He turned red as he realized he was just an inch from my face while in just a pair of boxers.

"Come on," he said and opened the door to the house. When we passed Mrs. Nara in the kitchen, I bowed and continued on my way. _I thought that girl had blonde hair_. She thought, but dismissed it as a trick of the light.

Shikamaru bounded up the stairs and into a room that was very bland. It was fully equipped with a bed, two bookshelves, a desk, a closet, a bathroom, and a balcony. The thing that interested me the most was an oak shogi board on a little table by the balcony. It was hand carved, and still had the smell of the forest on it.

"It is beautiful," I said in a trance.

"I love shogi, so for my 13th birthday my dad made this for me. Do you know how to play?" Shika asked.

I shook my head. "No, but my grandfather and my dad used to play it all the time. They always played on a cherry board sort of like this one. Although it was so old, every piece was smoothed out with age." I replied, still lost in the game. I snapped out of it when I felt Shikamaru's breath faintly touching my ear as he leaned over and said quietly, "I can teach you to play if you want. I find it a lot more exciting than sitting around here and not having an opponent."

"Really? Thanks Shika-kun!" As a sign of friendship, I added kun to his name just because I wasn't the kind of person who hugged people very much. Except Kyo, but that was always competitive.

"No prob." he said, waving off my thanks.

I stood up to look outside his window, and saw that he had a direct view into my new apartment, all the way back into the kitchen. "Hey Shikamaru! I can see my new apartment from here!"

"Great, is it the one on the seventh floor?" he asked, face turning green.

"Yeah, it is. How did you guess?"

Shika sat on the bed. "The last person in that apartment didn't keep their bathroom window shut, and I saw something that scarred me for life. So please keep it closed when you take a shower!"

"Of course I will. Wouldn't want your perverted self pulling a peeping tom, now would I?"

He stood up, indignant. "Hey, I didn't do it on purpose! That old man… I don't want to talk about it."

"Ouch, I can see why you would be scarred." I said with real sympathy. _That must have been horrible._

"I thought you would live with Kyo." He said, changing the subject.

"With him and his nut-case family, sure, want to drive me insane? Well, I had better go. You are about to be called down for dinner."

As I went down the stairs, Mrs. Nara stopped me and said, "Well, it is nice to see that my son has some more friends. Why don't you stay for dinner?"

"Thank you very much, but I couldn't. I wouldn't want to intrude." But of course, my treacherous stomach grumbled, betraying me.

She chuckled to herself. "That settles things then. You are staying for dinner, and meeting my husband."

"Mom, is that really necessary?" Shikamaru said, creeping out from behind me.

"Any girl who can get my boy to wake up at 4 am and keep him out of this house for the better part of the day is welcome here anytime. You really do need to get off your lazy bum and do something with your friends for a change." That last part was directed to Shikamaru.

As we all sat down for a delicious beef and veggie stir-fry, Mr. Nara came in. I did a twelve take going from Shikamaru to Mr. Nara over and over. They were exactly alike, except Mr. Nara was bigger and had a scar on his face.

"Hello, who do we have here?" Mr. Nara said as he walked into the kitchen.

"Dear, this is Lorraine, and she is the girl that got our son to get up at 4 am!" Mrs. Nara exclaimed.

He clapped a hand on my shoulder and said, "It's a pleasure meeting someone who has such an amazing ability! I don't even know if his other friends can do that."

I replied with a meek smile and a evil sideways glance to Shikamaru. Then I offered, "Mr. Nara, I would be happy to take Shikamaru off of your hands tomorrow. I need someone to show me around the village, and my cousin and his family are busy with the family business. I thought it would also be nice if he could introduce me to the Hokage, so I might be able to join the Hidden Leaf Village properly as a shinobi."

Both the Nara parents gave the go-ahead, so there was no way that Shikamaru would be out of it tomorrow.

"What time do you need him, Lorraine?" Mrs. Nara asked, "So I might wake him up for you."

"Oh, I can wake him up myself, so you don't have to trouble yourself. God knows that such a hard working woman like you deserves much more than just that." I said, my voice dripping with honey (metaphorically, of course).

"Why thank you," she said as the flattery obviously worked.

I thanked them for the meal, and walked out when the Nara family showed me to the door.

Then you heard Mr. Nara say to his wife, "I hope that girl keeps coming around. Shikamaru needs to know more people than just his teammates."

While I walked away, I got lost in my thoughts.

_Well, I didn't visit the Hokage, find a job, or get supplies for my new apartment. But I had a lot more fun today than I have had in a long while. And I can get that stuff done tomorrow._

When I took a shower, I made sure to keep the window closed.

*Kunoichi=Female ninja


	4. Chapter 4

-1

~Lorraine's POV~

When I finally got into bed, I fell into a fitful sleep. I dreamed of waking up in my new home, but it was on fire. As I struggled to get out of the now constraining blankets, the blaze raged on. When I finally escaped, I tried the front door, but it was so hot, it burned my foot as I attempted to kick it down. Limping to the balcony's glass door, I saw my family. But they didn't try and help me; they were just walking away. I screamed and screamed until finally, the fire consumed my helpless body.

I woke up with a muffled scream because I was facing down and being suffocated by the pillow. _Damn freaking' pillow. Damn freaking' apartment. Damn freaking' dreams. Damn it all. _I thought in my head as I shakily walked to the kitchen. As I poured a glass of icy water from the refrigerator, I pondered. _I wonder why I haven't had any of these dreams until I got here. It never happened while I was on the road. Maybe it was because I was outside?_

At that thought, I opened the balcony door and pulled the couch out onto it. Then I snagged the blanket from off of the bed and laid out on it, my head on one armrest and my feet hanging off of the other side. _Ah, this is much better. I never knew that I liked the outdoors so much. It could be an acquired taste. Let's see how I sleep now. Bring it, stupid dreams._

I failed to sense the presence looking at my sleeping form from a distance.


	5. Chapter 5

-1 As if on cue, right when I fell asleep, the first of the sun's rays started to peak over the mountains. _Well, it is time to get ready._ While I got dressed, brushed my teeth and the rest of the morning routine, I thought about my goals for the day. _Well, I have to add all of the stuff I didn't finish yesterday to my list. Let's think. 1) Wake up Shikamaru 2) Visit the Hokage 3) Find a job 4) Stock up on supplies 5) Visit Kyo and family 6) Return Shikamaru home, undamaged. Doesn't today sound wonderful?_

When my stomach growled, I went to the kitchen to make myself some breakfast. Then I remembered that I would be waking up Shikamaru and his mom wouldn't be there to make some grub for him._ I think I am going soft. Making random strangers dinner and then some breakfast for a lazy bum. Damn, I might be becoming a saint! _But the whole time I was brooding, some oatmeal from the meager supplies went onto the stove. As I rummaged through my pack, I realized I didn't have any honey. _Ugh, stupid Lorraine, stupid. Maple syrup will just have to do._

After I finished, I put it into two bowls, added a sprinkle of brown sugar to the top, grabbed my stuff, and headed out the balcony window. I smiled evilly when I saw that Shikamaru was still sleeping; he was sprawled out on the bed and snoring like no tomorrow. _He makes things way too easy,_ I thought. _He doesn't even lock his door, for crying out loud. But I guess me sleeping out on the balcony isn't too clever either._

I put the oatmeal down, and the moment I pounced, a couple of things happened. One, I jumped onto a shadow clone. Two, I whirled around to see where he really was. And three, I had a kunai to my throat.

"You really shouldn't try and sneak up on me like that. It is very troublesome this early in the morning," Shikamaru said as he released me.

"I was having a little fun. Besides, I made you breakfast," I said happily.

"Unless you still don't trust my cooking," I added.

By the way he glared at me, but took the oatmeal, I could tell that he was starving. He would probably eat raw goat eyeballs at that point. Just to add to his wonderful mood I stated nonchalantly, "How long have you been awake, waiting for me to come and 'wake you up?'"

He changed the subject by saying while motioning for me to take a seat, "Why did you make something like this for breakfast? All I ever have is some toast." I could tell that under his almost insulting comment, he really was kind of curious.

"I believe that breakfast is the most important meal. You never know if you will be able to eat a decent meal at all the rest of the day." I said while I took a seat at his desk. I added over a mouthful of the almost overly sweet oatmeal, "Maybe that is why you are so tired looking all of the time. You don't get a energizing enough breakfast. It would explain a lot."

Shika still hadn't taken a bite so I leaned over and took a chunk out of his bowl. I asked "Am I going to have to prove to you every time I cook something that I didn't poison it? Come on, you need to get real." I smirked when he took a bite himself, looked a little shocked, and then covered his reaction with a sour glare.

"It is really sweet" was all the guy said, but he continued to eat at a very steady pace.

"Why did you make me breakfast?" he said as I took his bowl away.

I smiled a very evil smile as I replied, "If I am going to drag you around until sunset, I won't listen to you complain any more than I have to." He and took off to the bathroom while I went back to clean the dishes.

When I got back, Shika asked "What are we going to be doing that will take so long?"

"Well, I have to see the Hokage so I can become a ninja here, find a job, get supplies, visit Kyo, and bring you back home." I said, just because waking up Shikamaru was obviously done.

"Why are you going to find a job? Here in the Leaf village, shinobi are paid for all of their successful missions." He said, probably out of experience.

"Wow," I answered, truly surprised. "In the Storm village, ninja are just treated with respect and reverence as payment for their sacrifices. Except if they do something spectacular like saving our leader or something. That is one of the reasons there aren't a lot of full time adult shinobi in our village. They all have families to feed."

_So all I have to do is be a shinobi to make some cash. Take '3) Find a job' off the list. Yay! All I have to do is 2) Visit the Hokage 4) Stock up on supplies 5) Visit Kyo family 6) Return Shikamaru home, undamaged. It isn't even 6 am yet._

"Let's get started then. How do I get to the Hokage?" I said with impossible enthusiasm.

"Hey, it isn't that simple, woman. You have to wait in line like everyone else around here. Why don't I wait in line, and you meet up with Kyo while I am there?" I could tell that this didn't come from the kindness of his heart. He sounded like the line would take so long, he could take a nap and get me out of his hair for a while.

"Okay, but how will I find you when I am finished?" I said, sad that I had found a loophole in the plan.

"Just go towards the Hokage Mountain, and there is a huge building beside it. Then just look around for me." _Like I wouldn't be able to hear his snoring from a mile away._

"Sounds simple enough. Let's go." I said. He made his way off at a run, probably to get away from the 'troublesome woman' instead of getting to the line fast enough. I walked calmly up to the Dragon Forge which was already busy with daily business.

I didn't wait in line and just walked down the stairs behind the counter. It was burning hot down there, and after last night's dream, I didn't feel like staying long.

"Kyo, my horribly disfigured cousin! Come out from behind the furnice!" I bellowed all too lady-like. He scrambled out and tried to regain his dignity by putting me in a headlock. When it came down to it, Kyo was my favorite cousin, and was the only one allowed to put me in a headlock without getting his head ripped off.

I kicked him right in the shin, because his wife would be pissed if they couldn't have any more children. Just because he was my favorite, doesn't mean he can go without punishment.

"Damn it, Lori, I have to stand on that today, you know" he grumbled after releasing my head. "You should be glad I got the Fang and Wing finished in just one night, because I wouldn't be able to concentrate now with the fucking huge bruise on my leg."

I was surprised. _He finished both of them in one night? He must have worked his ass off from the moment I left until now. He may be an dick sometimes, but he can sure get a job done._

I murmured my thanks to him when he passed me the ice cold Wing and the boiling hot Fang. I couldn't even remember which rib had been broken or where the chip was. The defects were now completely healed. "Kyo, you do know that you still owe me that two grand from that bet, even thought you fixed them, right?"

"I still think that you fudged it." He replied ruefully.

"How could I ever mess with that, you numb nut? Seriously, you know you lost." I said as he got back to work, pounding the hammer on some iron bar a little too forcefully. I then made my way up the first flight of stairs and up the second to find Mila and her son, Kyoshiro, sitting at the kitchen counter. Kyoshiro was about five now, and had bright red hair like his father but beautiful clear green eyes like his mom. He jumped up the second I walked into the room shrieking "Lori-chan, Lori-chan, you're back!"

I threw him up in the air before he could pull me into his iron grasp. He squealed as I did it, throwing him higher and higher until he almost hit the ceiling. Then I swung him around, and finally hugged him close. Little kids were the only things that I let hug me in this way, or add 'chan' to my name. Most of the time, I avoided all contact or just went ridged and didn't return the affection. But little kids were so innocent, and there were no lies or judgments behind what they said and did. I stood there a minute, enjoying how he tried to squeeze my guts out, just to prove how strong he was. I played along.

"Ow, little Shiro, I am going to pass out if you don't let go. And then I will fall on you for payback." He let go, grabbed my hand and walked to the table with his chest puffed out. Probably the new 'manly man who can beat up Lori' pose.

"Look Momma, I am big and strong! I can beat Lori-chan, and even Daddy can't do that!" he said, all smiles.

"It will stay that way as long as you eat all of your breakfast and eat a spoonful of honey every day." I said seriously, bending down to his level. I really do believe that honey helps, but making him have a spoonful a day was just something I did to piss off Kyo. He hated honey almost as much as the Storm Village elders.

By that time he had started scarfing down his food. Mila said to him "Slow down little mister, no one is going to take it away from you." But he continued to eat while me and Mila talked. I stayed until around seven-thirty feeling a lot better now that I had my weapons back. Being away from them so long made me rather fidgety. Right as I went to leave, Mila asked, "Lori, dear, could you baby-sit Kyoshiro and our neighbor's baby tomorrow? I am going to be really busy."

" Sure," I said, "I'd love to. I'll pick them up in the morning."

I walked down the road toward the Hokage Mountain slowly, taking in my surroundings. Then I saw a huge flower shop stuffed with exotic looking specimens. When I strode in, Ino was at the counter, dealing with a customer. As the woman turned away, Ino caught a glimpse of me and said "Arashi-sama, so nice to see you again."

"I told you before; there are no need for honorifics. Your family owns this shop?" I replied.

"Yeah, and I keep it going when I am off of missions. Do you like Konoha so far?" She asked politely, watering some of the live plants around the counter.

"Yep. I decided to live here. I am in the apartment complex behind Shika's house." I said.

"Whoa, did you just call Shikamaru Shika? Does he let you?" the blonde looked astounded.

"Yeah, but he isn't too happy about it. Is that a problem?" I asked, a little dumbfounded myself at her reaction.

"It is just that I have never heard of anyone who could actually do that. He doesn't like nicknames very much. It took me by surprise, is all." Nevertheless, her reaction made me think that there could have been fights between Shikamaru and the nickname callers.

"Well, I got to go. See you later." I said, eager to get away now that Ino was looking at me like I was some kind of alien.

"Here, have a flower on me." The girl passed me a single stem, realizing how rude she was for staring at me like that. It was a pretty purple flower that I didn't really recognize. Then I left, continuing to Hokage Mountain.

There was a little stream that I crossed over where I saw a KIA memorial in the middle of a small field. I decided that it would be a good place as any to set my little flower. As I made a silent prayer for each of the unknown people carved into the rock, I sensed a presence behind me. It came closer and when I turned around, a man with silver hair, a mask, and a leaf headband covering one eye was a few feet behind me. When he saw that I noticed him, he looked at me and asked quietly "Do you know anyone on this memorial?"

"No," I replied, "But I passed by and decided to pay my respects."

"It is nice to know that there are shinobi who have hearts left in this world." He said solemnly. He did a one-eighty and said "Sorry, my name is Hatake Kakashi. I am a jounin from this village."

I replied, a little slowly because I was sure I had heard his name before. "I am Arashi Lorraine and I am a chunin in the Storm Village."

He looked at me, but I couldn't tell his expression because of the mask. "I am even more surprised that a ninja from the dreaded Dragon Mountain has a heart, and is so beautiful. What makes you come so far south-east?"

I ignored his flattery and replied, "I am now living here, and I am going to become a shinobi for this village. Hopefully." I added.

"Why don't I come with you to speak with the Hokage? I might be able to speed up that long line. First I have to do something. Follow me." He said. I nodded and did as ordered. _If I have a connection to an obviously powerful shinobi here, I might be able to get through this a little faster than I thought._

I followed him for a few minutes through the trees. When he stopped on a tree at the edge of another meadow, I stopped alongside him. In the middle of the field were three kids my age. By the way they just laid around, I could tell that they had been waiting for a while. There was a girl with cotton candy pink hair and a red dress that could be worn in combat. Her chakra was very slight, but by the way she had it restricted even in a relaxed stance, she obviously had very good control. She was standing in the shade by a dark boy with coal black eyes and hair who was sitting up against a tree. His chakra was normal, but he had a fairly large amount of it that fluctuated slightly. Sprawled on the floor a good distance away from them was a blonde who was snoring up a storm. I could see a strange chakra emanating from him dangerously, but a normal one cloaked it.

Kakashi stepped down from the tree as if he was just walking into the air and strode up to the three shinobi. I didn't know if I should follow, so I waited.

"Kakashi-sensei, we've been waiting forever for you!" the girl shrieked.

The blonde jumped up, startled, and went on a rant too. The other boy just sat there as if Kakashi hadn't shown up.

Kakashi himself just rubbed the back of his head and said, "I was caught up in the path of life and met a lovely young lady on the way."

"Sure you did! I want to see this 'lovely young lady' the next time you use that lame excuse." A vein in the girl's head was visibly throbbing at this point. I snickered.

"Well don't be surprised; you asked for it. Come out of those trees, Arashi-san." He said, motioning for me. I did as asked, but added a little flash to my routine. I jumped out, did a flip, and the moment before I touched the ground, I flashed behind the blonde.

"Woah, hold up. You didn't have to freak me out like that, lady!" The blonde said. I noticed he had whisker like marks on his cheeks. I grabbed both, pulling them out two feet and squealed "Ooh, I love cats! They remind me of dragons. So kawaii!"

He blushed his head off, but then I added menacingly pulling his cheeks even harder. "Don't call me lady, you baka, or I'll skin Mr. Kitty like a dog. My name is Arashi Lorraine, and I hope you will remember it."

"I am Uzumaki Naruto, and I am going to be Hokage." He stuttered. _Good luck with that, kid._ I let go of his face and he sat on the ground, rubbing his red cheeks.

The girl winced a little and introduced herself as Haruno Sakura. _Her parents were very inventive with her name._ I mused sarcastically to myself. The other boy said nothing at all. I was truly pissed at that emotionless kid; he hadn't even looked up from the ground yet. Therefore, I had to teach him a lesson, just because I was in that kind of mood today. I pulled out Wing and bit my thumb, pulling it across the edge of the battle fan. Then I waved it in the air and whispered "Seth, Awaken."

There was a gust of air, and Seth, my beautiful pearly-gray dragon, (and my first summoning) was wrapped around the boy's neck. Such a display would have given him enough time to make a clone; so of course, the real Seth was wrapped around the real boy's neck, which was standing behind me with a kunai aimed at my throat. He glared at me with such hatred and surprise, that I just couldn't resist pressing his fear further.

Seth, catching my intentions of frightening him, whispered ghost-like into his ear "Oh, you have upset my Master. You shall have to pay. Will I tear out your throat, for you planned doing the same to Master? It sounds absolutely…Delicious."

Even this boy, so emotionless, couldn't help but let a bead of sweat snake down his forehead. Feeling ever so slightly sorry for him, I directed my attention to Seth and ordered him to return to me, where he wrapped himself up my arm and around my neck. Then I saw that Seth had left his mark on the boy's neck, slightly bruising him at the last moment.

"Seth, dearest, I know you love to play, but wasn't that a little much?" I cooed to him, petting his head affectionately. He twirled up me slightly until he and I were at eye level.

Dropping the whole 'I am a freaky dragon that will do anything the insane master says' routine, he purred "But Lorraine, you haven't summoned me in ages and the Mountain was getting a little boring. Can't you let me have a tiny bit of fun?"

The emotionless boy was coughing now and Pinky had run up beside him. If looks could kill, I would be dead a thousand times over. Mr. Kitty was laughing so hard, he was holding his sides. Kakashi was just looking at me through his one eye.

I walked up to the boy Seth had 'played' with and said, "It is impolite to ignore others. It is even more impolite when someone introduced themselves and not do the same. I can take your impassive attitude and rudeness, but one day someone far stronger and meaner than I am won't. Keep that in mind."

"I am Uchiha Sasuke." He murmured under his breath. I knew I wouldn't get any more out of him. Pulling one of my famous schizophrenic moodswings, I reached down and helped him to his feet. "Pleased to meet you, Uchiha." At that, I returned to Kakashi.

He said to the trio, "If I am not back within an hour's time, go home. I will be escorting this chunin from the Storm Village back to the Hokage, so she might gain ninja status here."

Sakura and Naruto screamed in frustration and the Uchiha sat back down under his tree. I whispered "Seth, Sleep." I could hear his complaints of 'I wanted to play,' as he disappeared. Kakashi and I then fled into the forest. About five minutes later, we arrived at the Hokage Mountain. We walked in, and I saw Mr. Nara sitting by a soda machine.

"Lorraine! Did you get into trouble already? Where is Shikamaru?" he asked me, a little too loudly.

"Its fine, Mr. Nara. I ran into the honorable Kakashi-sensei on the way here from visiting Kyo. Shikamaru-kun said he would be here, waiting in line for me." I replied, switching to the polite new neighbor.

"I thought I heard some snoring around here. If you needed some help with the application process, you should have asked me." He said, finally realizing that his son would have been no help at all.

Kakashi then said, "No worries. I can handle it. I have even given my team the day off, so I might help her if it takes too long. I didn't know that you knew anyone in town."

I explained to him what had happened, and how I became Shikamaru's neighbor on the way to the Hokage's office. We went down some long stretches of halls, and through a hundred different doors until we saw Shikamaru snoozing in a chair right by a big door. There must have been at least fifty other chairs beside him, all occupied.

Not being able to resist, I did a perfect impression of Mrs. Nara and yelled "Shikamaru, get up right now or you will be late!" At that, he jumped about six feet in the air, tumbled to the floor and mumbled something under his breath when he saw where he was, and that I was right in front of him.

"What took you so long, Lorraine? It is already 10 am. Oh, hi Kakashi-sensei." He said.

I gave my excuses to him; but didn't go into detail because we were in public. Then a young woman in a kimono opened the door and said, "The Hokage is ready for you. Please come in."

I walked in, followed by both of my companions, and bowed to the old man sitting in his chair. "Welcome to Konoha, Arashi-san."

"Thank you very much, Hokage-sama." I replied, going into complete 'obedient little ninja' mode.

He nodded his head and looked down at a piece of paper. "It says here that you are a chunin from the Storm Village. Correct?" he asked.

I nodded and added "I was done with our special exams to become a jounin. But I left before I received the certificate."

"According to Kakashi, you are more than capable of being a chunin for this village. No matter what you were in your old village, you may only be allowed to start off as a chunin or genin here. If given the choice, do you have a preference between the two of them?"

"No, Hokage-sama. I will go wherever I am needed." _Perfect, I have him like putty in my hands._

"At this moment, we have a lot of genin groups who are missing members. You shall be assigned there. But when we feel we no longer need you there, you shall be moved into a chunin group without having to retake the exams."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." I turned to leave, but I felt something coming in my direction. Reaching up to intercept it, I caught a headband.

"Now that you are officially one of our ninja," the Hokage said formally, "You shall wear our Leaf headband." Carefully, I replaced the Storm band from around my neck with the one of my new village. "Now, be on your way." The elderly man stated.

"Hai," all of the ninja in the room said, and left immediately.

As I shut the door, Shikamaru asked, "How does Kakashi know what you are capable of? If he hadn't put in a good word for you, that whole process would have taken weeks at least."

"I had to show the Uchiha some manners, is all. Nothing to worry your sleepy little head over, I promise." I replied, patting that head. He mumbled to himself as Kakashi and Mr. Nara excused themselves. "Goodbye!" I called.

"Now what do we have to do?" Shikamaru inquired as we made our way out of the building and into the public square in front of it.

"I have to get some supplies. I didn't have any honey in the house this morning. That is why the oatmeal wasn't very sweet." I answered. I saw him visibly gag. "Next time I make oatmeal, I will make sure that I don't put anything in it for you, you picky boy." _Tonight, I want to make some honey-rice cakes. I need to repay the Nara's for their kindness, and we can have them for breakfast tomorrow._ _Little Shiro always loved them too._

I grabbed his arm and took off, racing towards the little marketplace. "Hey, slow down, Lorraine."

I complied and apologized, "Sorry didn't mean to hurry you up. Oh, I forgot, all of my friends and family call me Lori. It's much shorter." We continued to walk towards the market at a slower pace.

"Shika, do you know where they sell honey around here? Good quality, please. I'm not using nasty artificial junk." He nodded and pulled me towards a stall around the corner.

When we were finished, I had enough food to last me two weeks and enough honey to last me four. Shikamaru helped carry the bags back to the house.

The shinobi sighed with relief as we walked through the door. "Ugh, how much food does one girl go through? And all of that stuff was freaking heavy too!"

I gave him a little shove and said, "Stop being such a baby. In my village, you would have been beaten for such insolence. I got enough food to last me for a while. Do you want some lunch?"

He shook his head, but I said, "No, you are going to like this. Not an ounce of honey goes into a turkey sandwich." At that, Shikamaru nodded and helped put away the groceries as I made the simple meal. Then we sat down at the counter and chowed down. Unlike the last two meals we had eaten, I didn't have to prove to him that I didn't poison it.

After we finished and I had cleaned up, Shikamaru turned to me and asked, "Do you want to go to my house so I can teach you how to play Shogi?"

I squealed, "Shika-kun, you do know that I think that you are totally awesome, right?"

\

"Humph," He muttered, blushing slightly. We jumped out of the window, and climbed up to his.

As we sat down in front of the wooden board, he explained the whole game in layman's terms. "Shogi is a game of strategy and skill. You won't be able to beat experienced players just because you know the rules of the game. This is about how well you can estimate your opponent and plan out a situation for each possible move he or she plays. But you have to remember, that person is planning something out like that for you as well." I nodded. Shikamaru was very professional in his teachings and was patient as I asked questions. Probably stupid ones at that.

Back and forth we went for what seemed like no time at all before I realized that it was four o'clock. "Sorry, but I have to make something for breakfast tomorrow. I'll see you later."

However, before I left, he asked, "Mom wants to have you over for dinner tonight. It will be ready at five if you want it."

I nodded and rushed down the stairs to where Mrs. Nara was getting ready to make the meal. "Mrs. Nara, do you want me to help you with dinner?"

She shook her head vigorously and said, "You need to go home and rest. I have this covered." It felt weird having someone else take care of me after all this time alone on the road.

"Are you sure?" I asked hesitantly.

With a blaze of fire, she stood up and howled, "Young lady, I said that I have it covered! You had better be here, ready for dinner, at five o'clock sharp!"

Almost quivering in my boots, I stood at attention and said smartly "Yes, Ma'am." She waved me off and I ran back up the stairs where Shikamaru was laughing his head off.

"Mom has taking a liking to you. She only ever yells at people that she is fond of." He said through his giggles.

I pouted and murmured, "Hey, I have to deal with Mila already. Mrs. Nara will be a piece of cake."

Shikamaru's jaw went slack for a moment and said "Mila acts like that? She seems so sweet and nice…"

I cut him off mid-sentence as I opened the window. "And that is exactly what she wants you to think. Then she sneaks up on you in the middle of the night and rips you to pieces. But it is more with psychological warfare, not yelling. Do you really think that any other person could get Kyo to settle down?" He seemed to see my point. I waved and headed back to the house where I set up to make the rice-cakes.

I was putting the hot cakes on a dish when I felt a presence coming through the glass door. Quickly and silently, I pulled out Fang and waited by the opening to the kitchen. As the shape pulled in, I grabbed it around the shoulders and brought my katana to its neck. "Hey! What are you doing Lori?" Shikamaru shrieked. I let out a sigh of relief and dropped the blade from his vulnerable neck.

"Don't sneak up on me like that. Knock on the door or something. You don't know whether or not anyone who comes into your home uninvited is an enemy or not." I hissed, turning back to my cakes.

"What are those?" He asked, giving them a sniff. The idiot guy didn't seem to realize my advice could save his life one day.

"My famous honeyed rice cakes. I made them for you and your parents to repay you for your hospitality. They are fresh off the stove." Shikamaru made to grab one of them, but I smacked his hand with the spatula. "And if you don't eat your dinner, your mom will have my head."

"Oh, crap, dinner! Grab your stuff and let's go!"

We leaped out the window, and I just barely threw my apron back through it. We were right through the front door as Mrs. Nara put the food on the table. It was something that resembled a Mexican tostada. I turned to Mrs. Nara and gave her the plate. "What is this? Oh, rice-cakes! And they are fresh too! Did you make these?" She asked. "

Yes, Mrs. Nara. They're for you and your family." Grabbing me around the shoulders, she hugged me and cooed, "How lovely. See how nice this girl is, Shikamaru? Like the daughter I never had." The older woman hinted.

I heard a groan escape Shikamaru's lips as his father walked in the door. He sat down in the same place as the night before at the end of the table. Mrs. Nara sat down to his left, Shikamaru on his right, and me by him. We ate the delicious meal and Mrs. Nara pulled out the dessert that was still deliciously warm.

"Dear, Lorraine made this for us. You try some first." He took one, drizzled it in honey, and bit a chunk out of it. The older man's face was priceless.

"This is the best rice cake I have ever had, Lorraine." He said around a mouthful of sweet honey goodness.

"Thank you. And Lori is fine." I couldn't help but puff up with pride. No one could resist the awesome power of a good rice cake.

Mrs. Nara took one next and did the same thing, completely agreeing with her husband. "These are really good! What do you make this out of?" She asked.

It wasn't as if the recipe was a secret. "Rice, honey, flour, sugar, almonds, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Then I just put them in little rounds and fry them up in a little butter. It is pretty simple, really."

Shika put only a tiny bit of honey on his cake and ate it in silence. The look on his face told me that it was a little too sweet for him. He murmured, "That has a lot of honey in it…but it is good." He added when his mom gave him a hard glare. They offered some to me, but I declined.

"I have some at home. Mrs. Nara, do you want some help cleaning up?" I offered just out of courtesy. I knew what the answer would be.

"No, I have it under control. Go home and get some rest like I told you to before dinner." I nodded and said my goodbyes to the family, making my way out the front door.

When I got back to the house, I finished making the cakes for the next day, took my shower, and went to bed. This time, I was smart enough to start out the night outside.


	6. Chapter 6

~Shikamaru's point of view~

After dinner was done, and I had finished all of my boring chores, I headed up to my room. Lorraine had left soon after dinner. I turned to see that like the night before, she took a shower and went to bed. However, this time she started off on the couch on her balcony. As quietly as I could, I made my way over there. She was tossing and turning in her sleep, making muffled noises that I couldn't decipher. Not exactly realizing what I was doing, I brushed the hair away from her face and covered her up with the blanket. Lori calmed almost immediately after, and I turned towards my own home, completely forgetting my mini reconnaissance mission. I fell asleep the second my head hit the pillow.

When I woke up, the sun was already high in the sky. Jumping up, I ran to the window, and almost crashed into a small covered plate. Beside it was a note in a very distinctive hand:

Dear Shika,

I am going to baby-sit my cousin Kyoshiro and a baby for Mila. Sorry that I didn't tell you sooner. I heated up the plate so that the cakes should be warm when you wake up for breakfast. On the other hand, maybe lunch. I didn't add as much honey to this batch for you...nasty. But I left some honey on the side if you wanted it. I will probably be going to a park somewhere if you need me.

See you later,

_Lorraine Arashi_

_That girl is absolutely nuts. _ I thought as I uncovered the plate. The little rice cakes were coated in a dusting of powdered sugar and they were still warm. Beside them was a little bowl of honey. _Definitely crazy. Making me breakfast when she doesn't need me for anything. Huh. This tastes a little funny without the honey. _ I thought, dipping the cake into the bowl. _I wonder why she puts honey on absolutely everything._

Realizing that now that I had eaten, I wasn't sleepy anymore, I got dressed. For about an hour, I sat in my room and tried to think of something to do. Nothing came to mind. Then I looked out the window and saw that there were clouds in the sky. Walking down the stairs, I saw Mom cleaning the kitchen. "You are up early again. Where is that lovely little friend of yours?"

"She went to baby-sit her cousin's kid." I replied, kind of bored. "I am going out." And I left before she could stop me.

Walking down the street, I took the turns that I normally did, finding the weather worn path. When I was almost to my field, I heard a voice. Quietly, I jumped into a tree and looked into the clearing. Lori was there, holding a tiny infant in her arms and watching a little boy with red hair running around.

Then the boy jumped onto her back, flinging his arms around her neck in a crushing hug. Lori laughed and grabbed the little tike. She pushed him gently into the tall grass and tickled him with her free hand.

_I remember how she was so on guard even in her own home. Now, Lori looks like she couldn't have a care in the world. As if she weren't a ninja. _ I decided to say hello and walked out into the field. The moment I was in her range of hearing, she stood up and pushed the boy down behind her, holding the baby protectively to her chest in one hand. In the other, she let a battle fan slip out from her sleeve.

When she realized it was I, she smiled and waved. _And I just ruined the moment._ I thought as I walked forward. She sat back down on the ground with the baby in her arms, and the little boy ran up to me. "Hi, my name is Kyoshiro Arashi. That lady over there is my cousin, Lori-chan…I mean Lorraine." He grabbed my hand and pulled me up to her. "Mister, what is your name?"

Lori answered for me, "Little Shiro that is Shikamaru Nara."

"Oh my golly! Lori-chan, I didn't know you were fysic!" He squealed, jumping up and down. "I'm not fysic, or psychic, like I think you were trying to say. I know him. He is my neighbor." She was grinning ear to ear at the boy's antics.

"Lori-chan, can Seth come out and play? Or Medici? Please!"

"Seth can, but not Medici. She doesn't like coming out unless she has something to do. Shikamaru, can you hold Sarah for me?" Lori asked. I nodded, and she passed her to me deftly.

"Who are Seth and Medici?" I wanted to know. "Two of my summonings." She replied, and the battle fan slipped down her sleeve again. Lori bit her thumb and scarlet blood gushed out. With a snap, she opened the fan with expertise and ran her thumb across the edge. In almost a whisper, she commanded "Seth, Awaken."

With a poof, a small, gray-scaled dragon appeared, wrapped around Kyoshiro's neck. He screamed, but before I could react, Lori whined, "Seth, you are scaring Shika. Stop being such a bum or I won't summon you anymore."

The dragon sighed, and let go of the boy, who immediately gave it a hug. "Wow, little man, hold it, hold it! Lori, that is so unfair. You summoned me for fun, so that is what I was doing."

"Seth, Seth, come play with me!" Kyoshiro demanded and they ran off together. Well, Seth hover/slithered and the boy ran.

"I didn't know that you could do a summons." I stated, looking down at the little baby. It gurgled some baby talk in response.

"Shika, there is a lot of things that you do not know about me. I have only been here for 3 days." She replied, a little harshly. "Did you like the rice cakes?"

For a moment, I was worried she was angry with me, but the feeling subsided. "Yeah. Thanks." I said.

"It is the least I can do for you helping me out so much since I have been here."

Looking down at the baby in my arms, who seemed bored (if that is possible for babies), Lori pulled her shirt up and blew on her stomach. Sarah giggled and kicked her pudgy little feet out. I touched her nose with my pinky, which she grabbed with her tiny hands. She blew slobbery raspberries at us, and we smiled. "You like little kids more than people your age or older." I said to Lori, and she nodded even though it hadn't been a question.

"Kids are innocent and sweet. Nevertheless, when they get older, they begin to lie, and backstab. At this age, they can do no wrong in my eyes."

As I wiped the saliva from Sarah's face, she asked, "Do you want kids when you are older?"

I blushed slightly, but responded, "I do. I would like a wife, and some kids, someday. Just a little, close-knit family."

"Good, because it would be a shame if some kid didn't get to have a wonderful dad like you. Most people I know hate the thought of having children. They just want to run around and date for the rest of their lives."

I scoffed slightly, saying "It is unrealistic to think that. Once you meet the woman, or man in your case, that you love more than anything in the world, why would you just date? And who would want to date you if you are freaking 60 years old?" Lori laughed at that, and went to take the baby from my arms. I saw her look over to Seth and Kyoshiro, who were climbing a tree together.

"Seth, if Kyoshiro gets hurt, you will wish you were…" and the boy fell from the tree. Faster than I thought humanly possible, Lori ran over and dived, catching him before he hit the ground. "Oh God, Kyoshiro. You need to be more careful. You could have broken an arm or a leg! Then I would have had to summon Medici." He giggled in her arms, and her face got stern. "That's what you were trying to do, wasn't it? Get hurt so I would have to summon her? Do you know how dangerous that is? You could have died, and Medici wouldn't be able to do a thing about it." But she still hugged him close, no matter how harsh her words were.

"Promise me that you will never try a stunt like that again, Little Shiro. What would I do without my favorite baby cousin?"

Kyoshiro nodded, and said, "I promise, Lori-chan. Just don't cry, okay. If I go, don't cry like everyone did last time." She kissed the top of his head and let him go to Seth, who decided that making mud castles would be a safer, if not cleaner, game to play.

I looked at her face which was slightly haunted. She sat down on the grass, and I lay beside her, the baby in the crook of my arm. "What did he mean by 'don't cry like everyone did last time'?" I asked. She pulled out a bottle of milk from a bag I hadn't seen before and took the baby from me.

As she began to feed Sarah, she asked me, "Have you ever heard of the Dragon Plague?" I shook my head. "Well, I'll tell you about it. It is a long story though, so get comfortable."

"My country is the Land of Rain. The Storm Village is located on the base of the Dragon Mountain. It is called such because the densest population of Dragons in the known world is located there. Shinobi of my village specialize in 6 things: dragon summonings, dragon style taijutsu, sword fighting, battle fan fighting, lightning based attacks, and wind based attacks. The only taijutsu we are taught is dragon-style. Women ninja use the battle fan, men the sword, and whichever element you are inclined to. To be a shinobi of the Storm, you have to defeat a dragon in battle, and summon it at will."

She burped the baby and continued. "One day, an illness struck the Dragons of our mountain. Many Dragons died in the Plague. Most of them were the healing variety, because they used so much of their strength to cure others that they didn't have enough to save themselves. Soon afterwards, smallpox hit our village. Young children and older people were hit the hardest. Since all of our villages healers had relied on the healing Dragons they summoned to cure the sick, many children died."

"I had just learned how to summon Medici, one of the last healing Dragons left alive. But she was picky, and only had one master at a time. My mother was ordered by the Village Elders not to let me heal." Lori snarled, "It was because they wanted a medic all for themselves when they got sick. Therefore, I watched my mom try to save as many children as she could. I entertained the kids 24/7 by reading to them, talking with them, or anything else to keep their minds off the friends dying around them. To tell the truth, I had hated kids with a passion before. Then I saw their chakra diminish and their lives fade away. It killed me to watch their eyes glaze over, to feel the tiny little hands go limp in mine."

Lori was gazing off into space, as if she didn't even realize I was there. "One night, Kyo came running to the hospital with Little Shiro hanging in his arms. 'He is sick with the damn pox.' Kyo said to me. I hung by the poor kid who was only 2 at the time."

"I knew that he wasn't going to make it. When the symptoms showed up that quickly, it was almost guaranteed that they were going to die that night. I told Kyo the news, the man who had always picked on and fought against me fell to the ground, crying. The guy was a complete wreck. He looked so fragile on the ground by his boy's bedside, sobbing."

"Then he sat up, walked over to Kyoshiro and brushed his hair to the side. Kyo asked me, 'Are you going to let your cousin die?' All I could say was 'It was a direct order from the Elders. I cannot summon Medici.' However, as I looked at the fever torn form of that poor little boy, I decided to screw the orders. I summoned Medici and saved Kyoshiro's life. The day that I announced that he was in full recovery, Kyo packed up and left with Mila and their son to come here. He hated the Elders for being so selfish as to let an innocent child die because they wanted to live for the last year of their decrepit lives."

She looked down at her hands, which were shaking. "I watched all of those unfortunate children die when I could have saved them. And I almost let that sweet little boy over there die because of the Elders." I saw how she liked all children now; she sees them as the ones she couldn't save. The look on her face crushed my heart. Wanting to comfort her in some way, I grabbed her shoulder and pulled her down beside me.

"See that cloud up there?" I asked her, but she shook her head. I grabbed her hand and pointed at it with her finger.

"Yes," she said, adjusting Sarah in her arms.

"What does it look like to you?"

"It seems like a…bear."

I waited a moment and asked, "Now what does it look like?"

"Like a bear."

"Wrong," I beeped, and corrected, "Look at the head. It moved up a bit. Now it looks like those bear honey containers."

Giggling, Lori turned to me and whispered, "Yeah. You'll definitely make a good dad. You're patient, kind, sweet, caring, and funny. What more could a kid want?" I looked at her, but her eyes were closed. She had fallen asleep curled around the baby, who was also in lala land.

"Shikamaru-kun, Seth fell asleep in the mud. I can't wake him up." _It seems like she is physically linked to the Dragon as part of the deal for the summoning. When it fell asleep, so did she. What a drag._ I leaned down to wake her up, but she didn't respond.

"How troublesome." Picking Sarah up out of her arms, I watched Kyoshiro play until she woke up.

"What the fucking hell happened!" she screamed, jolting up and pulling out the deadly katana.

"Nothing, Lori. You fell asleep, is all. Left me here watching the kids for an hour."

Leaning down, she helped me to my feet and said, "So, at least if you try and kill me, you know the best way to do it."

"I would never try and kill you. Friends don't do that to friends, do they?" She shrugged and went over to Kyoshiro who was about to fall over from exhaustion.

"Hup-hup," she said, and Kyoshiro climbed onto her back slowly, wrapping his arms around her neck. Carrying him like he weighed nothing at all, she set off down the path. "Are you coming, Shika, or am I going to start having to call you Mr. Lazy like before?"

"Be there in a second" I called back, taking a look at the clouds that I didn't really have time to look at.

They were very thick, but you could still distinguish different shapes in them. The one that had looked like a honey bear had transformed into a beautiful flower. _It takes a lot of imagination to see a flower in the clouds, doesn't it?_ I thought, and turned to see Lori gazing in my direction. Walking towards her, I continued to let my mind wander. _If anyone here is going to be a good parent, it is going to be her. Who ever marries her in the end will be one lucky guy. But he is going to have a handful to deal with._


	7. Chapter 7

~Lori's Point of View~

"Lorraine Arashi, your first mission for the Leaf Village will be a delivery with Team Seven. Their designated jounin will not be coming on this one because he has been called on a solo mission of his own. You will lead this squad to the Sand Village with a highly fragile package for the Kazekage, which other ninja could possibly try to take. That is why it is ranked C. We expect you back a week from today. Three days to get there, stay there one day, and another three to get back. You are to leave at dawn. Is everything understood?" He asked, passing me a tiny box.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. I just have one question; who are the members of Team Seven." I asked politely. It may have been a stupid question for other ninja from this village to ask, but I still hadn't quite memorized everything about my new home.

He seemed to realize his misstep. "Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha. They are all of genin rank." _Well I'll be damned. It seems like I get to mess with the Uchiha kid's head a little more. This will be a lot of fun._ I thought as I left the room to go and pack for a weeklong journey. When I was done taking a shower and getting clothes and food in my traveling pack, I went outside to where Shikamaru was sitting at his window. _Wow, it is two hours before dawn and Shika is up. That is a bad omen dude. Seriously bad._

"Hey, Shika! I have a mission to the land of Wind. I won't be back for a week, so you had better make yourself your own breakfast. Oh, and I still love your smiley face boxers." I said, picking on him.

The boy pouted a bit. "Eh, whatever. Which squad are you going with?" He asked, moving aside so I could slip in.

"Kakashi Hatake's team. Two of them hate me already, so this had better be fun." I giggled and sat down on his bed.

"Let me guess," Shikamaru said, "It's the Uchiha and Sakura who hate you, right?" I nodded. "If the Uchiha hates you, so will Sakura. If the Uchiha likes you, Sakura will hate you even more." Remembering the last encounter with them, and the daggers I could feel coming from Sakura when Seth hurt Sasuke, I knew why.

"Well, I had better tell your mom that I won't be here for supper. And I have to tell my cousin too. Then I have to find out where the three of them are, because we are leaving when the sun rises." I stated.

Before I could react, Shikamaru had me wrapped in a tight hug. As suddenly as it began, it stopped, and he pulled away. Rubbing the back of his neck, he murmured, "Just don't do anything stupid. The Sand Village is dangerous."

I was touched that he was worried, but I knew that he was embarrassed enough as it was. So I ruffled his hair and proclaimed "I am a skilled ninja formerly of the dreaded Dragon Mountain. I can kill a thousand men with a flick of my wrist and summon a dragon that can take out an entire civilization in one stroke. A few ninja won't touch me." He shrugged, but I could tell that he was about ready to burst out laughing.

"Whatever." And we slipped downstairs.

When I told Mr. and Mrs. Nara that I was leaving, I was enveloped in another crushing hug. "Be careful, dear! Oh, your first mission as a Leaf shinobi is a C rank, and you're the leader!" Mrs. Nara squealed, but Mr. Nara ruffled my hair as I had done to Shikamaru.

"It just goes to show that the Hokage recognizes that even though she is only a genin here, our Lori was going to be a jounin in her own village. But you still need to be on guard. The Sand Village shinobi who patrol the desert attack first, and ask questions later." He advised as Mrs. Nara went through my pack to make sure I had everything I needed.

All three of the Nara's waved me off, and I heard Shikamaru shout, "Tell Naruto not to get you all killed!"

I didn't want to wake up Mila, so I just stepped downstairs into the forge. Kyo was already there, tending the fire. "What the hell do you want so early, Brat?" he asked, shoveling some coal into the furnace.

"I'm going on a mission. I'll be back in a week, so don't expect me to be here when you need Kyoshiro to be baby-sat. And I need you to make the payment on my apartment while I'm gone." I called over the roar of the flames.

"Okay. Now leave before your bratty aura puts out my fire." Kyo said, and I did as was told for once.

Apparently, Naruto Uzumaki lived in the same apartment building as I did. So I walked down the hall to his room number and pounded on the door. "Naruto, get up!" I yelled, and I heard someone tumble out of a bed.

"I'm up, I'm up!" Naruto croaked as he opened the door.

"Nice pajamas," I commented, talking about the blue pj's and the dog-sleeping cap.

"Shut up. What do you want, Lori?" he asked.

"We have a mission to the Sand Village. Pack enough to be gone a week with your own provisions. Then meet me at the gate when the sun rises. Any questions?" I said.

"Nah. I'll be there! Believe it!" he squealed and slammed the door in my face.

According to the paper the Hokage had given me, Sasuke Uchiha lived pretty close by. So I followed the directions to his house and found that it was a huge mansion in a deserted part of town. When I knocked on the door, there was no reply. I knocked again, this time yelling, "Hey Uchiha! We have a mission. Get your lazy ass up!"

"I'm in the shower. Give me a minute!" a voice yelled and I waited outside. About two minutes later, the Uchiha opened the door, just barely finishing putting on a shirt. "Oh, it's you. What do you want, Arashi?" he said scornfully.

"Didn't you here me? We have a mission to the land of Wind. Pack enough to be gone a week, with your own provisions. Then meet me at the gate when the sun rises." I repeated, already getting pissed off.

"What do you mean, 'we'?" he asked.

I just loved the look on his face. "Kakashi can't come, so I am going to be the leader of this mission." The Uchiha mumbled to himself and slammed the door in my face, just as Naruto had. _God damn it. Sakura had better not do the same thing._ Luckily for me, the Hokage had already sent someone to wake her up, so she was almost ready to go when I got to her house.

I was at the gate just as the first rays of the sun peaked over the mountains. _I'm just lucky that since it is winter, the sun doesn't rise until 7am. _A minute later, all three of them showed up simultaneously. Sakura asked, a little groggily, "What is the mission exactly?"

"It is simple; we're making a delivery to the Kazekage on a time limit. We have to be back here a week from today. Even I don't know what the package really is. All I know is that it is extremely fragile." I answered.

Sasuke added, "It is probably important for our relationship with the Sand Village. We have never really gotten along with them, but we have been trying to bridge the gap between us." Even Naruto nodded at this, and if the numbskull of the group knew that this was vital, than it definitely was.

I shrugged. "I haven't been here long enough to know very much about your village, except for what we learned in school. But I never heard that the relations between the Fire and Wind countries were in this bad a state. Are there any questions before we take off?"

All three shook their heads and I jumped off into the trees. They followed, and I set a steady pace. As I pulled out a map, Naruto asked, "Have you been to the Hidden Sand before Lori?"

I nodded and responded, "On my way to the village from the Hidden Storm, I had to cross through the desert. Then I felt a shift in the sand; up ahead there was a huge mass of stone. But when I got there, it was a village sandwiched in between rock outcroppings to block the wind. I had needed some more supplies because I didn't know how long it would take me to pass through, so I stopped at the market. There were a lot of shinobi patrolling the entire town, but I made it through relatively undetected."

"Relatively?" Sasuke asked almost accusingly.

"Yeah. Some redhead kid with a gourd on his back followed me around for while. That isn't the point. You can feel the shifting in the sand around the place and as long as we stay in the right direction we should be able to get there."

Sakura, who was the level headed one, inquired, "What do we do if we come across a patrol?"

I hadn't really thought of that yet, so I answered her after a moment's thought. "We are going to try and avoid any confrontations with them. The easiest way to do that is to suppress our chakra so they can't sense us. Sakura, you have the best chakra control of the group. I want you to keep yours as low as possible. I'll do the same. I have a feeling that these two boys can't control theirs very well. But I want you to try anyway." Naruto went to say something, but I shook my head. "If the enemy does find us and there is no way to avoid them, you three will hide while I try and speak with them. In all reality, it should work. If not, and they attack, you will have enough of a surprise advantage to take them down." _I don't really even need to do this. I could most likely take them down in one go. Even so, I don't want to reveal my true strength to anyone, including these three. But if the Sand Village shinobi are as ruthless as they say, I don't want anyone to get hurt._

"And Sakura, I want you to take the package. If someone is looking for it, no one will suspect the person with the lowest chakra to be carrying it. The package is fragile, so be extremely careful with it." I passed it to her and she put it in her pack. "Now save your breath; this journey is freaking long. And the sun sets early in the winter so if we make camp, we have to do it at about four."

We continued on, and with the pace I set, we made good progress. At noon, we stopped for lunch. All three of them were tired, but I heard no complaints as we ate field provisions. Setting off again, we made it to a large hill half way to our destination. "Everyone, we are going to set up camp here." I said, and they all stopped.

Sasuke commented, "Won't we be spotted up here by any person coming through?"

"Not necessarily. The advantage to this particular hill is that we will see anyone coming, and they can't see us because the top is in a bowl shape. I don't want a fire going out here though. The night is too clear and smoke would definitely be spotted miles away."

No one had brought tents, even though the desert nights get cold. But we all brought sleeping bags, and we set them up under the stars. After the long days journey, no one wanted to stay up late, so I took the first watch. Sasuke second, Sakura third, and Naruto had the dawn shift. The moment after their three heads hit the pillows, they fell asleep. Even the cold-hearted Uchiha looked peaceful in his slumber.

Except he didn't look too peaceful when I woke him up for his watch. I had set my sleeping bag up a little farther away just because sleeping around virtual strangers wasn't my favorite thing to do. When it felt like I had just fallen to sleep, there was a fluctuation of chakra nearby and I bolted awake instantly.

Sasuke was completely awake, so it seemed like he just hadn't felt it. I snuck up behind him and whispered in his ear, "Did the Academy teach you guys anything? There was a little burst of chakra used just a moment ago, to the right of us. Wake up the others." The boy had jumped slightly when I came up behind him, but did as was ordered. Both the sleeping genin woke up easily and without noise and I motioned for them to go hide. They did as ordered, taking their sleeping bags and packs with them. "Wait for my signal."

I laid back down in my sleeping bag, hiding the Fang in beside me. _There are three ninja coming in this direction. Damn. Their chakra is below normal, but they could be suppressing it. Let's see how this little rumble turns out._

The ninja surrounded me, but I continued to 'sleep.' Since my chakra level was normal after I kept it down, I couldn't act like I didn't sense them forever. So I jumped up out of my bag and said, "Come out! I know you are out there." All three came out of hiding and I recognized one of them: a redhead boy with a gourd on his back.

Another older looking boy with purple face paint said, "We are shinobi of the Sand Village. Are you the shinobi from the Leaf with the package?" _Aren't we blunt?_

"What if I am?" I countered, being completely rude.

"Just answer the question!" the only girl of the group commanded. She had a huge fan at her side and she looked like she could use it.

I didn't answer. "I apologize for my siblings. They can be…impatient at times. Now please, answer the question." The red-head whispered, his voice like sand in the wind.

_He is the most dangerous of the group. I saw the other two flinch. They seriously fear him._ _But for some reason, I get a feeling that I can trust him. At least more than the other two. _"Yes I am. My name is Lori Arashi. You guys, come out." I called and my comrades poofed up behind me. "This is Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. We were sent by the Hokage on the mission to give this package directly to the Kazekage." Instead of pulling out the real package, I pulled a fake one out of my pack. Just because I thought I could trust them didn't mean I was going to jeopardize the mission.

"I am Subaku no Gaara*, and these are my siblings Temari and Kankuro. We shall escort you to Sugakure." The redhead said.

"Are we going to be leaving now or are you going to make camp with us?" I asked, wanting to get down to business, but not wanting to exhaust the team.

"It is 6 hours before dawn. We should rest, Gaara." Temari suggested. Gaara looked at me, and nodded. His siblings set up their own sleeping bags but he didn't.

"Switch out the watch, Sasuke. It is Sakura's turn." I said, but Kankuro shook his head.

"Sleep isn't the top of Gaara's to-do list. He will take the watch." I shrugged, but my mind raced. _God damn it! Now I am going to have to stay awake just in case this is a set up._

So the rest of the night I continued to 'sleep', keeping an eye on the sand siblings. Gaara just sat there in the moonlight, gazing up at the stars. When I thought about it, he looked like he hadn't slept in years. The sand swirled around him in a lazy circle, as if affected by his chakra.

*Gaara of the Desert

The next day went on like the first, with a breakfast of cold rice cakes (which even the Sand shinobi seemed to enjoy) and more running through sand. "I hate the desert!" Naruto complained. "It's hot, dry, and sandy. I think I might hate sand even more. Some of the stuff went down my…" and he was cut off by a sound whack in the head by Sakura.

"Stop whining, you big baby. I don't like this that much either, but you don't hear me complaining." Seizing the chance to have some fun, I got a handful of sand and dropped it down Naruto's shirt.

While he was running around yelling, 'ouch, hot', I laughed and said "Yeah Naruto, listen to Sakura. A little sand won't hurt you at all."

Nevertheless, I thought to myself, _Yeah, it won't hurt, as long as it isn't Subaku no Gaara controlling it. _By that time, I had noticed that the sand around him shifted with his every movement. Including running along the sand; he didn't leave a footprint or anything. It was like there was no resistance when he took a step.

We stopped for lunch and then before sunset we set up camp for the night. Once again, Gaara took the night's watch, and once again I stayed up and watched him. After a few hours, however, I heard an emotionless voice murmur, "You won't be able to keep up with us tomorrow if you don't get any sleep, Ms. Arashi."

A little surprised about being caught, I retorted, "Well, you don't seem to be getting any more sleep than I am."

Gaara shrugged. I pulled out of my sleeping bag and sat beside him at the higher point on our little sand hill. When I sat down, he scooted away from me. I didn't move. "Why are you awake?" he asked.

"Because I don't like the fact that someone who didn't sleep at all yesterday is taking the watch all night by himself."

Gaara ignored me and asked, "Were you in Sugakure 2 weeks ago? Just passing through, and getting supplies?"

I nodded. "I saw you tailing me back there for a while."

"It is a rare for someone to be able to pass through our security perimeter undetected. Especially the inner ring surrounding the village itself."

Shrugging it off, I looked at him again and said, "We could have taken part of the watch so you could rest."

"I haven't slept in months. You also have a problem with people who could still be the enemy being the only ones who are on watch," he added, and it was my turn to shrug.

"If you were in my situation, wouldn't you do the same?"

"Maybe…"

Then I realized that he had said he hadn't slept in months. "Wait. You were just over exaggerating on the 'months' bit, right?" Gaara shook his head. I began to feel a little worried. "Back in my village, ninja who didn't sleep were usually tested to see if they were being possessed by a dragon." He tensed, and I put a hand on his shoulder. Sand flicked up immediately like a guard dog protecting its master. I felt it rub my skin almost raw. "But you already knew that, didn't you?" I asked.

The look on his face showed utter defeat. "I am possessed by the Shukaku, one of the nine tailed demons." Gaara replied with a little bit of expectation in his voice. I didn't remove my hand from his shoulder. "Aren't you going to run away? Most people do, once they find out. Aren't you afraid that I am going to kill you?"

"That dorky boy over there is possessed by the nine tailed fox. He wouldn't hurt a fly. I don't care that he shares his body with another being. Naruto is still who I know him to be." I had figured out this little tidbit during the first day.

"But I have hurt many," he said, "I have even killed people; on accident and on purpose."

I thought for a moment, and responded hesitantly, "A friend of mine is possessed by a powerful dragon. He has killed many, many people. Ryu even tried to hurt my family once. He can't control himself when the dragon finds a way to take over. I can't blame him, because it isn't his fault. Both of my friends can't help that they have to share their bodies with another being." It felt strange giving this information to someone I'd known for about a day, but the boy needed to hear it.

Gaara looked at me in astonishment. "You still consider him your friend even though he tried to harm your family?"

After I nodded in response, I asked, "Gaara, don't you have any friends?"

"No. They all run away from me…" And that was when Gaara told me the story of his life, from the moment his mother died during his birth, through when the only person who he ever thought loved him tried to kill him. Gaara explained to me how Shukaku would only be able to take over when he was asleep, so he only rested when in tight restraints and under the guard of elite ninja. With each word he said, the more I realized that this wasn't a dangerous ninja in front of me. It was a poor little boy who had never experienced the love of family or friends.

Gaara touched my heart and without really thinking, I pulled him into an awkward sideways hug. The deadly sand swirled around us and he tensed as if I was trying to kill him. "It's alright, Gaara," I whispered, "From now on, you and I are going to be friends. And there is nothing anyone can do about it." His only response to my words was that the sand stopped spinning and he loosened up a little bit. After a few minutes, he actually laid his head on my shoulder. Eventually, I set him down. Gaara seemed like he was asleep, but I wasn't sure. _As long as I don't see him trying to transform, he can rest all he likes._


	8. Chapter 8

When the sun finally peeked over the horizon, I was still awake, watching over Gaara's still form. Temari and Kankuro came around slowly, and the moment they saw Gaara lying on the ground and me sitting beside him, they both lunged. I turned around and caught them, throwing the two in the other direction. "Be quiet, you idiots. Gaara is asleep." I whispered harshly.

Kankuro made another dive, and I stopped him again. "That is the whole problem, don't you see that?" he squealed as I shook him like a rag dog. Temari tried to sneak around me.

"Girly, I advise you not to take another step. If you wake that poor kid up, I will kill you myself. I am already pissed at you two enough as it is." They gave me questioning looks. "Gaara told me all about how his two older siblings wouldn't help him with his demon issues. You should be ashamed of yourselves. This boy hasn't slept in ages just because his so-called family wouldn't take the time. You need to get over the fear of the Shukaku and help your little brother." I lectured, and the two of their jaws hit the floor.

"Gaara…he"

"He told you about…" they mumbled.

"Yes, he told me about the demon. And his mother. And his psychotic, power hungry father. And his weak-willed uncle. And all the kids who made fun of him. And you two. You had better make a good case for yourselves because trust me, no one will be able to believe how horrendously the Sand treat their children. The only reason I am not killing you myself right now is the fact that the Sand and Leaf villages aren't on the best of terms already. And a Leaf Shinobi attacking the offspring of the Kazekage would not look like the friendliest thing in the world."

Temari was the first one to come out of her daze. "How come Gaara hasn't transformed?"

"I don't know. I think that his physical body is so exhausted that even if the demon took over, he wouldn't be able to move." I answered, and went back to sit with him. To tell you the truth, I was deadbeat tired.

The siblings sat back down and started whispering to each other. The rest of my team started to wake up drowsily, so I decided it was time to wake up sleeping beauty. "Hey, Gaara. I really didn't want to have to do this, but you need to get up. Our team has a deadline to maintain. I promise that when we get to the village, I will let you get some rest. Okay?" I whispered, giving him a little shake. When he got up, I saw that those few hours of sleep did him some good. The dark circles around his eyes were smaller and his movements weren't as sluggish.

"I don't think you'll need to do that. Six hours of sleep is more than I have gotten in ages. I see that my brother and sister saw me?" He responded, stretching his tired limbs.

"Yeah," I said, "And I kept them from pouncing you in your sleep. They seriously need some anger management counseling or something." My joke didn't get a response. Then I turned to Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto. "Guys, we are going to be at the village in an hour or two. I can feel the change in the sand. Since we are ahead of schedule, we will deliver the package as soon as we get there and have some free time to ourselves. It is my hope that we can find some lodging in town. If not, we will just sleep out here again." They all agreed, too tired to really argue about something they couldn't control.

We took off and as I had estimated, we got to Sugakure in an hour and a half. The little village consisted of lots of short, squat buildings with domed roofs so the sand that was blowing around wouldn't build up and collapse. The Sand Siblings led us to the building that had the Kazekage's office in it. And since we were on important business, we didn't have to wait in line. So we only had to wait a minute or two when we finally made it up to the big double doors. Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro didn't follow us in.

"Hello," a soft voice whispered, "You must be the shinobi from the Leaf Village with that package I asked for. Please, do come in." We obeyed and walked up to the front desk with me in front of the others.

"Good morning, Kazekage-sama. Here is the package." I said officially. Sakura pulled it out of her pack and gave it to one of the guards that stood on both sides of the desk. They performed a jutsu to test for explosives, wiring, and other harmful items that could be hidden within. It seemed to pass the guards' examination, for they gave it to the man in blue and white.

"Thank you very much. Please send my regards to the Hokage. There is no return message besides that. You are dismissed." He whispered again, and we walked out.

Once we had left the building, I turned to Gaara and said, "Hey, that dude gives me the creeps."

He ignored me and asked, "I do not know any inns that are in town. Temari, do you ?" She shook her head. So did Kankuro.

"Oh well. We'll just stay out in the desert again. At least I get to check out the market a little more extensively than I did last time I was here."

Gaara looked at me and asked in that emotionless matter, "Do you want to spend the night at our house? We have 2 spare bedrooms." The look on his siblings' faces was priceless: Kankuro of shock and Temari of outrage.

"We wouldn't want to intrude. Besides, the desert really is beautiful at night." Sakura said, trying to be as polite as possible but still rejecting the offer. She was obviously a little frightened of Gaara as well. Naruto didn't have enough instinct to sense anything weird about him and Sasuke didn't really seem to care. As usual.

Gaara gave Temari a very solid glare and she spat out through clenched teeth, "No, we insist. You really need to get some well deserved rest for a completed mission."

"Yes," Kankuro said, in the same fashion, "Or at least come and take a shower. I know that you girls want to take one. Temari gets cranky when she doesn't get to wash up."

"Are you sure that we wouldn't be intruding?" I asked, but I knew that Gaara had already gotten it all sorted out. Just because he told me what bugged him doesn't mean he was going to be nice to his rotten siblings.

Gaara nodded and I turned to my team. "Okay guys, looks like we are going to be showering tonight." There was a cheer from Naruto and a little giggle of delight from Sakura. No response from the emo-kid of course.

As we followed them to the house, we passed through the market very quickly. It was busy even this early in the morning. When we finally arrived at the house, Gaara waved us in. The door wasn't even locked. The house was medium in size, but extremely messy. First thing I did was turn to the kitchen and ask, "What do you guys want for breakfast? Since we are busting into the Subaku family home, I am going to prepare the meals for everyone during our stay. To return as much as I can for their hospitality."

My people didn't answer, seeing as it was the Sand Siblings' home, not theirs. "Those rice cakes you had were pretty good. How about we just heat those up?" Kankuro murmured with a slight blush. _No one can resist the awesome power of the rice cake._ I nodded and set to work, rummaging through the kitchen cupboards. I finally had everything done and we ate.

Then I turned to Temari and asked, "What do you want for lunch? I have to go to the market for supplies anyway, so I'll make up anything you want. Oh, Gaara, since you are the youngest, you get to pick dinner."

Temari wanted some tuna sandwiches and Gaara liked the sound of a stir-fry. Luckily, Mrs. Nara had taught me the recipe for her beef one, so that was what I planned to make. I made a list out for the ingredients I would need for the meals and the rations we would need for the trip home. The boys from my team went off to go and get those things, along with Kankuro. Gaara had disappeared, as well as Temari.

While they were doing that, Sakura and I set up the spare bedrooms for use. The entire house was a complete mess as if no one had even bothered to do any laundry for weeks. I took action. As Sakura made up the beds and such, I gathered all of the laundry that was in each room and did a few loads in the wash.

"So, I hope you don't mind that I am making you clean up someone's house, Sakura," I said, switching the last batch from the dryer into a basket.

I couldn't tell if she was lying or not. "It's nothing. I would have had to clean the house anyway if I weren't on a mission. Besides, I feel kind of bad for taking over their house."

When everyone but Gaara arrived back at 11:30, I had done three loads of laundry and Sakura had cleaned every possible room in the house besides the siblings' bedrooms. Kankuro stepped through the door and gasped, "Where the hell is my house?" Temari had a similar reaction.

"Hey, Lori, why didn't you just ask me to help?" Naruto said. "I could have just done a multi-shadow clone jutsu and done the work way faster. It could have saved you the trouble."

I shrugged, and grabbed the bags from his hands. Pulling out what I needed for lunch, I said, "Well, if you are so willing to help, come here and we'll make lunch." He did just that, and surprisingly, the boy did pretty well in the kitchen.

When it was finished, we sat down at the table and Temari scolded, "You shouldn't have gone and cleaned up everything…"

But I cut her off and asked, "Where is Gaara?"

Kankuro mumbled through a mouthful of sandwich, "Check the roof."

I grabbed Gaara's food and jumped out the window onto the balcony. From there I jumped onto the roof. Just as Kankuro had guessed, Gaara was sitting on the tiles, watching some clouds pass by. "Here," I said, and passed him the sandwich, "You should have come down and told me you were up here. Then you could have gotten some of your laundry from the baskets." He mumbled his thanks and began to eat, still gazing at the clouds.

I went back into the kitchen and got my food again. "Sasuke, you get to do the dishes."

"What?" the boy exclaimed.

I retorted, "Sakura helped me clean and Naruto helped make lunch. The one who did the least work gets to do the dishes." Then I headed back up to the roof.

Plopping down beside the redhead, I pondered, "You remind me of a friend back in the Leaf Village. He is always staring at the clouds. But you seem to like the moon more." Gaara nodded. "After dinner, I'll sit by you while you go back to sleep."

He shook his head. In our conversations, that seemed to happen a lot. "You have to make a 3 day journey back to your village. If anyone here needs sleep, it's you."

"I'm going to take a shower and a nap after I finish this. I only need a few hours of sleep anyway." At that, Gaara stood up to put away his dish. He grabbed my empty one and walked down a spiral staircase.

_I could have just gone up the stairs instead of taking a window. _ I thought as I fell asleep sitting on the roof.

"Arashi, wake up. It is your turn to use the shower." Sasuke said as he gave me a little nudge with his foot.

"All right! Don't touch me you dunce! I'm up!" I yelled, and he jumped a bit.

"Whatever. I was going to be a good person and let you and Sakura go first, but if you insist…" I jumped through the window and ran to the bathroom before he could even blink.

I hollered from inside, "Hey, does anyone know what time it is?"

"About 3:30." Kankuro voice called, but it sounded like it was coming from the basement. Hurriedly, I scrambled into the shower. The hot water was great after 3 days of sand, but I quickly washed up using the shampoo, conditioner, and soap that was sitting on the counter. Luck was on my side because there was a towel waiting there for me too.

When I got dressed again and walked out, Sasuke was waiting for me by the door. "Took you long enough," he grumbled.

I gave him a good smack in the head before I went to the kitchen. There I started up the stir-fry. By the time I was finished, Sasuke was out of the shower and Naruto was almost done. "Naruto, hurry up or dinner is going to get cold!" I shrieked and the blonde raced into the kitchen, buttoning his jacket.

"Okay, I'm done." He said, and at that, everyone else in the house arrived. This time, Gaara was with them.

"This is going to be buffet style. Just grab a dish and get your food. Youngest goes first, Gaara." I said. When everyone had theirs, we all crammed into the tiny dining room, sitting on chairs, the floor, and me on the windowsill.

"Mmm, this is really good, Lori." Sakura said politely.

"Yeah." mumbled Naruto through a mouthful of beef. Sasuke didn't say a thing, but I didn't expect him to. I knew that both he and Gaara enjoyed it though because they both went back for seconds. Gaara even went for a third helping. Sleep definitely improved his appetite. Kankuro and Temari also complimented my cooking.

"Naruto, you get to clean up." I said, and I heard Sasuke sigh with relief. "I'm letting you off the hook because you were nice enough to let the girls in the group have a shower first. But don't expect me to be so nice if we are ever on the same squad again." I then turned to Gaara who was making his way to one of the other bedrooms. "Now be quiet. I am going to keep watch over Gaara so he can sleep." My team members gave me quizzical looks but Temari and Kankuro understood. They looked like the house was about to fall down about their ears.

Following Gaara upstairs, we went into a plain little bedroom. There was a small bed, a desk, and a large window seat. The one thing that interested me was that one wall had 8 huge bookshelves stuffed to the max with volumes of all shapes and sizes. Seeing the look I wore, Gaara explained, "Since I don't sleep, the only thing that I do when I am home to relax is read or look at the night sky. Are you sure you want to stay up all night just to watch me?"

The boy seemed to think my offer had been too good to be true. "Of course. That is what friends do. Now go to sleep. Oh, can I read some of these?" He nodded and went into the bathroom. His pajamas were just some pj pants but the funny thing was that there were pandas on them. Trying not to laugh, I searched through the shelves and saw an interesting book on weather patterns.

Gaara crawled up under the covers and went to sleep almost instantly. I sat down on the window seat and read about the clouds. It reminded me of Shikamaru. _I miss him, and it has only been 3 days. That's pathetic. _ When I finished reading that, it was about an hour before midnight. Since I still had 4 hours to go before I was going to get ready, I selected another book. This one was about demons and monsters. _Poor kid probably wanted to figure out if he could get rid of Shukaku. _When I got to the part about how some demons can take over their master, I was reminded of Ryu. _Oh, God, Ryu. I miss you so much. Why did you have to die? You left me all alone. _I thought as a tear spilled down my cheek. I felt a finger touch it and jumped about 10 feet in the air.

"Why are you crying?" Gaara asked, looking at the single droplet of water on his fingertip like it was some precious jewel he had discovered.

"It's nothing, Gaara. Go back to sleep."

But he shook his head, messy hair shaking back and forth. "From what I know, that is not what friends do."

I smiled at how he had turned what I'd said against me. "That is very true. But sometimes, no matter what you do, you can't do anything to help your friend. That is one of the bad things about having close bonds with people. It hurts when you can't help. Now, the best thing you could do to make me happy right now is to go back to sleep." Gaara nodded and snuggled back under the covers. An hour later, it was time for me to get ready. I woke him up again and we went downstairs. There I packed up the extra supplies I needed and woke up the rest of our team.

Gaara and his two siblings saw us off. The redhead looked like he didn't know what to do or say. Then he pulled out the book I was reading on the clouds that night and passed it to me. "I have read that one so many times, I have it memorized. I don't need it anymore." It was so cute how he offhandedly tried to give me a gift. I gave him a quick hug to the surprise of Kankuro and Temari. They were still gawking at me when they waved goodbye to me and my team.

Three days later, we stumbled back through the gates of Konoha. I made my report to the Hokage without incident and ran back to my apartment. It was about 4:30 in the afternoon, so I took a nice, hot shower. When I got out, Shikamaru was waiting on my bed. "Hey Shika! Did you miss me?" I asked, and when he turned to look at me, his face turned a bright red and he looked away. "Damn!" I yelled as I realized that I was just in a bath towel. Running back into the bathroom, I almost fell on the slippery floor.

"Sorry, Lori." Shika said shakily.

"Just pass me my clothes. They are sitting on the bed." I opened the door and stuck out my hand. He gave me my clothes and I got dressed hurriedly. When I finished, I walked out again, towel drying my hair. "What made you come so quickly? I only just finished reporting to the Hokage." I said, grabbing a brush as I sat down on the bed.

As I tried to get the knots out, he explained, "Well, Mom knew that you were supposed to be home today. So I was sent to make sure you came to dinner on time."

"You know that I can make my own meals, right?" I complained, trying to pull through a very stubborn knot.

Shika sat beside me, grabbed the brush right from my hands and tried to get it out himself. I relished in the feel of the bristles softly going through my long locks. "Yeah. But Mom is worried that all you'll make yourself sick with all that honey. You cook me breakfast all the time, so it's a fair trade. All done." I was almost disappointed when he stopped.

"Thanks," I said, "I can never get the back of my head. Oh, I have something for you." After about a minute of rummaging through my pack, I found the book. "A friend I made over in the Sand Village gave this to me after I helped him out. You can borrow it."

Shika smiled slightly as he read the back of it. "Hey, we had better go. Mom will be angry if we are late. And that will be a drag."

After all of the 'welcome backs' and 'we missed you' greetings, the four of us sat down and ate dinner. When that was done, Shikamaru and I continued our shogi lessons. Shikamaru said that I was getting good, even though I hadn't even come close to beating him. It wasn't until about ten that Shika finally kicked me out his room saying, and I quote, "You need to get to sleep. Or at least let me get some." So I left and went to bed myself out on my balcony, of course.


	9. Chapter 9

A week past after my first mission in the Leaf Village with a distinctive pattern: get up, make breakfast, hang out with Shikamaru, visit Kyo and family, make lunch, hang out more with Shikamaru or my other friends, eat at the Nara's for dinner, and play shogi with Shikamaru. I did make a new friend though. He was a little white dog that I saw running around one day. The pup jumped on my back and hid beneath my hair. Then I saw a boy race past, looking for something. When he left, the dog jumped out and licked my face.

The dog and I hung out for a couple of days. He even tried to follow me home once. But when I let him inside, he started barking so loud that the neighbors complained. So I let him out on the balcony, and he slept with me. Shika said that he belonged to Kiba Inuzuka and his name was Akamaru. I went and returned my new friend to Kiba who almost cried with joy at the sight of him. It ended up that the two had gotten into a fight and Akamaru decided to hang out with me instead. In the end, everything seemed to be forgiven. But I still played with the little dog whenever I got the chance, and Kiba didn't mind at all.

Shika is gone on a mission with his squad and so are the team I went with to the Sand Village. Even Kiba and Akamaru are gone. So I have nothing to do but sit around. _No you don't, you slacker. You can train. Almost 3 weeks without it and you look like a jelly roll. Get off your lazy ass and do something!_

"Stupid troublesome conscience," I murmured, stealing one of Shikamaru's favorite words. I got up out of bed, grabbed all of my ninja gear, and headed off into the forest that surrounded Shika's clearing. Not wanting to cause any damage, I avoided it, and took off deeper into the darkness. Then I got to another clearing, with trees that had been used for target practice. _Sweet!_

I finally set up everything I needed; I did some pushups, sit-ups, pull-ups and stretches to warm up for some target practice of my own. First I worked on just throwing kunais and shurikens. My aim was a little off, but it always had been. Then I pulled out the Wing and practiced opening it, closing it, and using it to slice through the wood. After that, I did some wind jutsu. Luckily for me, I wasn't bad at that at all. Finally, I unsheathed the Fang and went to work on the pattern dances I knew so well.

In the middle of the final dance, I heard someone jogging into the field. It was a boy in green, a girl with two buns on her head, and another boy with creepy clear eyes. "Sorry to interrupt you. But we have come to train as well." The boy in green said enthusiastically.

"Whoops, I didn't know that this field was yours. Sorry I used your wooden dummies." I explained, and a man in green almost identical to the boy jumped up behind me. Well, almost jumped, if I hadn't swung around and almost took his head off.

"Easy there, young lady. I didn't mean to startle you. I am Guy Lee and these are my students, Rock Lee, Ten-ten, and Neji Hyuuga. I am training them to be the best ninja squadron ever!" He explained very overdramatically.

The man freaked me out a bit. "I was almost done with this pattern dance. If I could just…" but he cut me off.

"You can use this field anytime. I don't mind at all. Let's go. With the power of youth, we shall prevail!" And with that, they all got to work. Ten-ten practiced with weapons of all different shapes, sizes, and styles. The only kind I didn't see her use were swords and battle fans. Neji did this weird thing with his eyes and blocked everything she threw at him. Rock Lee pounded on the wood blocks, going at them at all different angles. Guy Lee supervised all three, correcting their stances, adjusting trajectories, and adding more difficulty.

Before I left, I turned to Guy and apologized, "Sorry I didn't introduce myself. I'm Lorraine Arashi, formerly of the Storm Village. It was a pleasure meeting you."

He smiled a huge toothy grin and responded, "I have heard some things about you from Kakashi. He says you are a worthy opponent. Maybe one day you and Lee can battle, to test each other's strengths." I nodded quickly and left to go home for lunch.

I was too tired to make something myself, so I stopped at a little ramen stand Naruto had shown me. You wouldn't guess who of all people was there. "Gaara!" I cried, pulling him into a suffocating hug.

"Lorraine, let go of me, I can't breathe!" he murmured, his face turning a lovely shade of blue.

"Sorry, Gaara. And I've already told you to call me Lori. What brings you here to Konoha? And where are your brother and sister?"

"They had another mission to do. I came here by myself on a solo mission. I was even thinking of trying to find you." Gaara said, sitting down to eat.

I sat beside him, giving the redhead a one armed hug around the shoulders. "Aw! You are so freaking cute when you are being nice!" He blushed a thousand different shades of red. I ordered some ramen, and we ate a quiet lunch together.

"Lorraine, I have to go. I need to be back at the Sand village in time for the full moon." Gaara said after we went to my apartment. I quickly pulled out some rice cakes that I had made the day before and practically pushed him out the door.

"Sorry I made you late, Gaara. You had better hurry; the full moon is in two nights! Take these rice cakes back for Kankuro and Temari. There should be enough for the three of you." He waved goodbye and took off towards the gates.

A few seconds later, I saw Shikamaru jump through his window. So I made up a new batch of rice cakes and followed him inside. I knocked on his bathroom door and asked, "How was the mission?"

"A total drag. How much longer until 5 o'clock?"

"Like, 5 minutes. Your mom is going to be pissed if you don't hurry up." I responded, even though it was actually ten minutes until five. _He would be late if I told him that is was ten minutes. Shika is so lazy._

Seven minutes later, Shika jumped out in a pair of boxers. They had hearts on them this time. "What is up with guys and wearing boxers with weird crap on it? Seriously, you, Naruto, and Gaara all wear stuff like pandas, smiley faces and hearts." I teased as he rummaged through his drawers for clothes. Shikamaru quickly got dressed and we ran down the stairs.

"Right on time," Mr. Nara said as he pulled his chair up. I put the rice cakes on the counter and helped Mrs. Nara serve up the grub.

"Who is this Gaara kid?" Shikamaru asked afterwards, when we were up in his room.

"A friend I made back in the Sand Village. He ended up being in town today, and we bumped into each other at Ichiraku's." I responded, looking at the shogi board.

"Do you want to play?" He asked.

I sighed. "Sure, but it is not like I will ever win…" And of course, I was right. He creamed me sorely. Throughout the next game, we started asking each other questions.

"What is your favorite color?" said Shikamaru after his turn.

"I really like silver and black. What is your favorite color?"

"Whites and grays. When is your birthday?"

"Fall equinox. You?"

"It's in three days."

I jumped up, almost knocking over the wooden shogi board. "And you decide to tell me this now?" I screamed.

"You only just asked now," he responded, "And I didn't think that you would want to know."

I wanted to jump across the table and strangle him. "Of course I want to know your birthday, you dunce! If you had given me more warning, I could have gotten you a present sooner. Damn it all!"

"You don't have to get me anything, you know." Shika said, exasperated.

This time I almost strangled him. "Don't even say that. It is insulting. Wait a second; isn't the fair in three days too?" I asked, having a moment of pure genius. He nodded. "Okay. Tomorrow I am going shopping for supplies, but you can't come." Shikamaru shrugged and rolled his eyes.

"I answered your question, so now you have to answer one of mine," He said, changing off topic, "Why did you come to the Leaf Village?" I froze for a minute, and gazed out the window.

When I had finally thought up of a good response, I whispered, "When I first left, I had some… business to take care of. After that, I realized I didn't have anything to keep me in the Storm Village anymore." A few moments passed in an awkward silence. "Shikamaru, I have absolutely no idea what kind of fighting style you train in."

"The Nara clan specializes in shadow jutsus. So I am working on some of the basics right now." He replied, obviously glad that we had a different topic to talk about.

"Cool. Ryu always wanted to learn shadow jutsus, but he is more fire inclined. Not much you can do about that. Fire and shadow are almost polar opposites. It would be hard to control both." I said. A strange look crossed Shika's face.

"Lori, I have heard you mention 'Ryu' a couple of times. Who is he?" Shikamaru asked cautiously.

"Ryu was my best friend in the Storm Village. My only friend, really. And I his."

"Then why do you always seem to be so… Never mind. It is none of my business, prying into your personal life." He murmured, turning back to the shogi board. We played another round before I started to yawn and Shikamaru ushered me out of the house.

When I got back to the apartment, I took a hot shower. During that time, I pondered about what Shika had almost said. _I seem so what? Sad? Frustrated? Lonely? I don't know! Damn it. You know what; let's think about the more positive things. Like what I am going to get for Shika's birthday. Hmm. What to get, what to get… Maybe a book on shadow manipulation. Naah. He doesn't need something else to train with. Maybe a potted plant. Like it would survive more than two days. Cloud things could work…_

And I continued on my little tangent as I drifted off into the peaceful realm of slumber.


	10. Chapter 10

When I woke up before dawn, I quickly got ready for my little shopping adventure. With my wallet tucked firmly into a pocket of my sleeve, I turned into the kitchen. _Blah. I don't feel like making breakfast. I'll just grab something while I am out. Besides, I need to get some groceries too._

Feeling a little mischievous, I wrote out a quick note for Shika and left it write inside his window. I made a few hand signs, did a summoning, and gave it the orders. Then I headed for the market. Whistling along the way, I looked through every stall. Most of the things around were more for girls like bracelets, necklaces, mirrors, and other little trinkets. I finally spotted a shop that looked interesting, "Fabio's Famous Antiquities."

Walking into the old building, I inhaled a thick layer of dust. An ancient geezer sat behind the counter but could barely see over it. "Hello. I would like to look at your wares, if you don't mind." I said politely.

"Sure, go ahead deary. A lovely girl like you can always come to my shop." He responded, but I highly doubt his eyesight was good enough to see me at all.

I wove in and out of the aisles, each jam-packed with awesome things that I hadn't seen in ages. Like one of those ring games that you had to get apart. _Nah. Shika is so smart he would probably think that it was child's play to do it. _Each item I saw, I thought of how Shika would like it. _No, to big. No, to small. No, to hot. No, to cold._ Feeling a little like Goldilocks from the three bears, I entered the back room of the shop.

The thing that caught my eye was spectacular. It was a creamy, light blue and white with swirls in it. The pieces were each made individually and by hand. I knew this just by the way they differed from the other. It looked so fragile, like it would break the moment a sound wave touched it. But I knew I had to get it. _He had better like this._ I thought as I saw the price tag. _Damn. Who knew antiques were so expensive? Wait a second… no! The little punk has already got one. What if he doesn't want it? Forget it. I'll find something else._

But then I gazed at it again and couldn't resist touching its glassy surface. _I'm getting it. If he doesn't like it, then I'll keep it._ I pulled out the money, and walked up to the old man, who I guessed was Fabio. "Did you find something that you liked, Miss?" he asked, and when I told him what I wanted, he whistled.

"Darn, Miss, you must really like that sort of thing to buy it. You could just go and get a normal one."

I shook my head. "This isn't for me."

The old man grabbed my arm and we walked to the back room. "For that special someone, I presume."

I blushed, and shook my head again. "Just a friend. Could you have everything wrapped up individually? I don't want anything to break." He nodded and shooed me off, saying to come back later.

I did as I was told and set off to do some grocery shopping. Stopping by the same market stall I'd first been to, I got all of the fruits I would need for a special dessert. Then I came across a candy shop and bought some chocolate too. Of course, in the end, I had to get some of the other essential food groups. Whistling, I trotted back to my apartment and dropped off the groceries I had bought and munched on one of the chocolate bars as I made my way back to the antique shop.

When I got back, the old man had finished wrapping up the gift. "I hope your friend enjoys this." Fabio said as I passed him the money.

"I'm sure he will. Thank you very much." I replied and snuck back to my apartment. This time, I made sure to go the back way so if Shikamaru was looking out the window, he wouldn't be able to guess what his present was.

And guess who I bumped into while walking up the many flights of stairs. "Damn it Naruto," I screamed, diving to catch the box, "What the hell are you doing running down the stairs like that!"

"Sorry Lori!" He murmured, rubbing the back of his head.

"You had better be freaking sorry. If this is broken, I swear on my sword that I will make you pay." Naruto's face was priceless as he tried to bow and run away at the same time.

I finally made it back to my room and hid the present where no one would ever find it: under my bed. I was going to laze around for a while, but remembered the note I had left on Shika's windowsill. _Let's see if he actually believed it._

Jumping down from my window onto his, I saw him walking around the room, staring at the walls and checking the door frame. _It seems like he did. Poor sucker._ Then he saw me peeking through his window. "Lori! Undo whatever trap you set and let me out!" Shika squealed, for once looking close to the edge of a mental breakdown. I just opened the window and walked in.

He just stood there and gawked at me. "You…you…"

"I what?" I asked innocently.

"I can't believe you would trick me like this!" He screamed, flailing the letter in my face.

Dear Shika,

I set up some wires around your door and window so you couldn't follow me while I went shopping for your present. You'll get a pleasant surprise if you try to touch them if you can actually see them. Oh, and don't expect your parents to come and get you; they are out for the day too. So you'll just have to wait until I get back and undo it.

Have Fun,

Lorraine Arashi

Laughter roared through me as his face turned a very plum-like purple. Shikamaru continued to complain until I finished with my bouts of the giggles. "Did you really think that I would actually do something to hurt you? Come out Shriek." I said, and a tiny blue dragon the size of my pinky flew into my palm. "The shock you felt came from Shriek. She is an electricity based dragon. Another good thing about her is that she can move so fast that the human eye cannot perceive her. Isn't that right dear?" As was her name, Shriek shrieked and Shikamaru covered his ears. "She is too young to speak English, but she does speak Dragon. I believe she said that you look funny when your hair goes frizzy. Did I get that right?" She nodded and I dismissed her with a wave of my hand.

"I still can't believe you would set me up like that, Lori." Shika mumbled as he kicked some dirty laundry under his bed.

"Aw, don't ruin my fun. It was payback for not telling me your birthday was so close. And I couldn't trust you not to follow me and try and ruin the surprise." Then I passed him a chocolate bar, which he gladly took since he hadn't eaten because of being 'trapped' in his own room.

"You'll be happy to know that I got you a present. And I also decided that we are going to go to the Konoha Fair." I announced as he munched on the chocolate.

"But that will be such a drag. Going around the fair with you of all people, psh. Why can't I just stay home?"

I gave him a good shove before flopping down onto his bed. "Don't talk with your mouth full. I heard that there is going to be a big shogi tournament. It will be for the first time this year and people from all across the country are coming to take part. I'm not much of a challenge at all." Shikamaru's eyes filled with suppressed delight at the thought of a worthy opponent. But he saw how disheartened I was and came to my pride's rescue.

The boy sat down beside me. "That isn't true; you are so strange and unpredictable that I have no idea what you are going to do."

"Sure," I said, "So why haven't I beaten you?"

"I have been playing shogi for years. You just started a few weeks ago. Why don't you join the competition?"

I mulled it over for a minute and came up with a wonderful idea. "I'll join in if you come to the fair and look at some stuff with me. You can't just sit around and do something that you do everyday when a fair that only comes around once a year is in town. Do we have a deal?" Shikamaru nodded, and I squealed. "Let's get going. It might be too late to sign up!"

We raced off into town, making our way to the arena where all special events were held. Since this would be a huge event with over a hundred participants it was the logical place for the sign up to be. Luckily, we were fast enough to get one of the final places in the tournament. Then we went back home.

"Shika, do you like fruit cobbler?" I asked as we sat down for another game before I headed home.

"Yeah. Why do you want to know?"

"No reason," I tried to act as if it were nothing. Before he could say anything, a presence entered the room. I wasn't fast enough to open the Wing before someone had grabbed me, pulling me up against their body. Shikamaru looked like he was about to throw some kunais but I was in the way.

The person, no, the man behind me was familiar. I knew he was strong because I struggled against him but he held me tight against his muscled chest. The smell of burning wood met my nose as he leaned down by my ear. "Rain, I missed you so much."

The moment I heard the velvety voice speak the nickname only one person on this Earth ever said, I knew who it was. Collapsing in his arms, all I could do was whisper his name. "Ryu…"


	11. Chapter 11

~Shikamaru's point of view~

_Ugh. What is this troublesome girl up to?_ I thought after she asked me if I liked fruit cobbler. Out of nowhere, a man in a distinctive black cloak grabbed Lori from behind. I pulled out some kunais, but if I threw them, Lori could have gotten hurt. So I stood there in shock, waiting for something to happen like the man pulling the huge broadsword off of his back and slicing her throat wide open. Her leaned down by her ear and whispered in the faint accent that Lori had, "Rain. I missed you so much."

Then she just collapsed in his arms and whispered that all too familiar name, "Ryu…"

Gently, Ryu turned her in his arms and hugged her close. It looked like Lori was crying, but I wasn't certain. She hugged him in a death grip and I saw that he winced with pain. After about 30 seconds, Lori finished her little breakdown and regained her composure. Standing up straight, she fixed the battle fan she had brought out back into her sleeve. She turned to me and asked skeptically, "Shika, is this an illusion?"

I shook my head. It sure as hell wasn't. "What do you mean, 'is this an illusion'? I'm right here, aren't I? And it has been almost a year, so if this was an illusion, it probably would have happened a little sooner." Ryu said, touching her shoulder.

"Ryu, I thought you had been killed! No. I sure you were. You know what, this is just some psycho dream I am having. I haven't been getting enough sleep. Yeah, that's it! And I'll just wait until dawn and wake up, with none of this really happening." Lori murmured to herself, sitting back down and closing her eyes.

"What do I have to do to prove it to you? Tickle you until you can't breathe and actually let you pass out?" She shrugged. "God, woman, you are so freaking stubborn!" Ryu howled, quite upset.

Then he pounced on her and tickled Lori until she turned a lovely shade of purple. "Okay, okay! It really is you! Just get off of me you big oaf!" Lori giggled, rolling on the floor. Ryu stood and helped her to her feet.

The guy turned around and looked at me. Of course, I still had the kunai in my hand like a total fool. _Woah. Didn't expect that to happen._ "Oh, sorry about that. Ryuga Hibachi, this is Shikamaru Nara. Shika, Ryu." Lori introduced us calmly as if the friend she hadn't seen in…

"Wait, you've been away from your village for over a year!" I asked, completely dumbfounded. _She has only been here for a few weeks. Where was she for the rest of that time?_

"Shika, I went and traveled to each and every country on the continent before I made it here. I was on the road for months." She said and immediately turned to Ryu.

"How long have you been searching for me?" Lori asked, tapping her foot like Mom does when she is about to explode.

"Well, it depends on what you measure your time in…" And he received a good whack in the head.

The look in her grey-blue eyes was truly terrifying. "Ryuga Hibachi, you had better tell me right now in simple terms, or I will tell everyone in the village about the time I took your…"

"Okay, Mercy, Mercy! I've been on the road ever since you left, trying to track you down." He turned to face me and nodded his head. "If my Rain doesn't want to be found, then she won't be found. At least not by conventional means."

Lori hit him in the head hard enough that he bent over and grabbed him by the waist, throwing the 6-foot giant over her shoulder as if he were a pillowcase. "Shika, sorry that I have to cut our game short, but Ryu here needs to eat and get some sleep. And by the smell of it, a shower too." I nodded, still dumbfounded by the new Lori that Ryu seemed to bring out. She switched from being a little sister to a mother in an instant. Then she hopped down from my window and jumped up to her own without breaking stride. Ryu pounded her shoulders like a little baby, crying, "Let me down, Rain! I can walk by myself!"

_Ryu just snuck up on the both of us. Even Lori didn't sense him before it was too late._ _What is up with him and calling her Rain? He hasn't called her Lori or Lorraine since he got here. And now that I think about it, Lori has a bit of an accent. I thought it was just by the way she talks, but Ryu has it too. _I pondered, my mind switching from new thought to new thought without intervals. _I feel like something bad is going to happen because of this new arrival to Konoha._

~Lori's Point of View~

I felt little pebbles beating on my back as Ryu complained, "Let me down, Rain! I can walk by myself!"

"You may be able to, but your footsteps are so heavy you would wake up everyone in my apartment complex and that would get me in trouble." I said, slipping into Dragon, my first language. _Tha, and the fact that I just wanted to hold you,_ I thought, _I missed you so much, Little Ryu._ When we got up to the balcony, I strolled through my bedroom and into the bathroom. "You don't get to sleep or eat until you shower, Little Ryu. I won't have you messing up the sheets on my bed. And your grimy little paws aren't coming within ten feet of my kitchen. All the things you'll need are in the tub already." I said, reaching up and ruffling his shaggy black hair. He nodded and grinned his familiar toothy smile. Then I grabbed a towel and some wash clothes from the cabinet, passing them to him.

"What's on the menu, Rain?" Ryu called after I left the bathroom.

"Oh, so I am your personal chef now? Okay, whatever you want to eat. I only added about 20 new recipes to my list over the past year." I responded, hearing the water turn on.

"Woah, twenty? All I want are some rice cakes, less honey than your normal recipe if you please. I already ate dinner at that weird Ichiraku Ramen Shop before I came." He said, and I got to work in the kitchen.

Ten minutes later, just as I was flipping the rice cakes, Ryu came out. "Nice and clean." He said childishly, plopping down onto the stool that Shikamaru had brought over from his house after complaining he couldn't see over the counter. Ryu's legs almost touched his chin as he rested his feet on the middle bar.

"Damn boy! How tall are you now?" I asked as I took the food out of the pan. Passing them to him, I put some powdered sugar on them.

"OUCH! Dats ott!" He mouthed through a huge bite of rice cake.

I sighed. "No duh, numb nuts, it just came out of the pan."

He got back on topic pretty quickly. "I'm about 5'11.5" I think." _Might as well round it to six._ We munched in peace for a while and I had to make another batch.

"And an appetite to match a 5'11.5 foot tall dude."

"I can't believe I survived almost a year without these things. But I probably shouldn't eat anymore for a week. Too much comfort food makes you spoiled." Ryu philosophized.

He got a little hit on the head at his weird tone. "Whatever, Mr. Know-it-all. Why did you track me down, Ryu?"

"You couldn't just give us time to be happy before ruining our little reunion, could you Rain? Well, I set off after you left…for the hunt. When I finally caught up with you, it must have been an a few hours after you took care of your business. I've been tracking you down from each insignificant country you've been to but I lost your trail in that huge desert North East of here."

"Let me guess; you didn't find the town there, did you?" I said, knowing how bad Ryu was at detecting shifts in nature.

His black eyes went wide. "There was a town? Damn. Well, I finally tracked you down here an hour ago, but I had to get clearance from the Hokage to be here. But when I told her I was looking for you, she gave me your apartment address. I couldn't find you anywhere, so I stopped for some dinner. Then I passed that dude's apartment and you know the rest.

I pondered over it for a little while and asked, "Ryu, why did you actually follow me? Was it an order from the Elders?" He shook his head.

"If those old farts had their way, I would have let you leave with my blessing. But I didn't. Rain, all of those ninja you killed back there were mercenaries in a very prominent organization and you also happened to kill their leader's son. I came to tell you that they're hot on your trail. And they are seeking revenge. We have to take care of this ASAP."

I sat in complete shock as I took in all that my childhood friend told me. He went into detail on how long they had been tracking me, who they were sending, and how powerful they were. Most of them were top rank ninja from new and old bingo books. _*For those who do not know, a bingo book is a book of powerful and dangerous ninja*_

After everything he said, I calculated how quickly they would be onto me. _In two more days tops. _ "From what I know," Ryu murmured, "No one you know is safe. They will hunt them down too and use them against you." It crashed down on me in an instant. _Shikamaru is in danger. Because of me. _I came up with a plan but my heart and soul ached with my decision.

"We have to take them down and soon," Ryu repeated. I shook my head. "Why not?" He asked, puzzled.

"Tomorrow is Shikamaru's birthday. And I want his last memory of me to be happy and complete." A look of confusion crossed Ryu's face.

"What do you mean? Once you and I get rid of these goons, you can come back. We just have to leave so that they won't find your friends now.

"No, Ryu. I knew that after what I did, I wouldn't be able to live a normal life. But I came here anyway, got an apartment, made friends, and lived happily for a while. This sick daydream has to end. I will not put my friends in danger ever again. This means they can never see me. I have to fade into their memories, and disappear without a trace. And the only way for them to put me behind in their memories is that they must think they will never see Lorraine Arashi again."

At that, I got to writing. Ryu fell asleep after a while and I put him in my bed since I didn't plan to sleep at all that night. I wrote and wrote the whole time through, a letter for each and every single one of my friends. Coming up with a cover story was easy. I almost decided to leave the letters for them and leave the following morning. But I had to see Shika one more time: see a smile on his face before I could never see him again. So I scribbled my heart and soul out, giving all the guidance I could to my friends for I would not be around to give them the advice myself.


	12. Chapter 12

~Shikamaru's point of view~

I had tried to read their lips after Ryu complained about being carried, but I couldn't. _I have had extensive training in reading lips. There is no way that if they were speaking in English that I wouldn't be able to understand. Maybe they are speaking in code. Wait a minute…_ Pulling out an atlas, I looked up the Storm Village and the surrounding area. _Main language is Dragon. Damn. Well, it's a sign; it wasn't my business anyway._

So I took a shower and went to bed. I woke up bright and early the next morning to no one other than Lori knocking on my window. Rubbing my eyes drowsily, I walked up to the window and opened it up. "Wakey Wakey, time for cakey. Or cobbler, whatever." she said cheerily, passing me a steaming hot plate of fruit cobbler.

"Happy 15th B-day Shika!"

"Thanks Lori. You know you…" I began to say, but she cut me off.

"I told you, don't even say that; it's insulting. Now eat up before it gets cold." Lori hopped through the window with her own plate and sat down on my bed. I looked at the sugary, gooey mess of fruit and decided I'd need something to wash it down.

"I'm going to go and get some milk. Do you want some?" I asked and she nodded. I tiptoed quietly down the stairs, got two glasses of milk, and walked back up. When I opened the door, Lori was looking down at my pillow as if she was about to fall over and cry into it. However, she heard me before doing so and a smile lit her face.

I passed her the glass and looked down at the still hot cobbler. _Why is she doing all of this for me? She and I have only been friends for a few months. I even convinced my best friend Choji not to do anything for my birthday. _She took me not eating in the wrong way. "Damn it Shikamaru. Do you still not trust what I cook every time I give you something new to try?" I just gazed at her blankly as she took a little bit of the cobbler from my plate and popped it into her mouth. "Ouch! That was hot!" Lori garbled as she guzzled down some milk. "Now you have to try it. Do you like my mom's famous dozen fruit cobbler?"

I took a bite of it myself. It was delicious but I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of hearing me praise her cooking. She would never let me live it down. "Famous where, the waste disposal center?" The girl gave me a look that immediately made me sorry for opening my fat mouth. It wasn't the look of disappointment most have. Lori was one of those people who never wanted you to think she was suffering because she saw it as a sign of weakness. She always smiled. All the time. Even if she was sad, lonely, angry, or scared. I could tell she took it hard because her thick lashed blue-grey eyes went hard even as a goofy grin spread across her lips.

"I still like the rice-cakes better." I amended, trying to pull the real smile back on her face. It softened her eyes up a little, but not much.

"Well, I wanted to give you your birthday dessert now since we are going to be spending the entire day and a good portion of the night at the fair!" Lori squealed a little forcefully.

"Will Ryu be coming with us?" I asked, curious.

"No. I ordered him not to get out of bed. He hasn't slept for five nights because he thought if he rested, my trail would go cold. Besides, after he showered and ate, he went to bed; he hasn't woken up yet. And this is your special day, so we are going to do whatever you want. Trust me, you and Ryu's taste in fun couldn't be more different." I could definitely see where she was coming from. I like simple and quiet things: shogi, the clouds, and rice cakes for breakfast. He seemed like the kind of person who would think that a fight to the death would be amusing.

"What time does the Shogi tournament start?" I inquired, and got an answer that made me want to ram my head into a wall.

"I don't know. You're the genius. You tell me." I gave her the look that always cut her shenanigans short and she mumbled, "You and I don't come in until 10 am." _Okay. That gives me three hours to do nothing._ "Now get dressed. We are going to check out the shops. I'm not letting you sit around all day and just play shogi. You have to try something new."

_Scratch that last thought. _So I went into the bathroom and got ready. When I came out, like when I came back in from getting the glass of milk, Lori looked like she was about to cry. I didn't really know what to do. I didn't think that I should let on to the fact that I knew something was on her mind, but it hurt to watch her sit in my chair backwards, arms wrapped around the back in a death grip. And of course, when she came back down to earth, she was all smiles.

We set off towards the center of town where all of the stalls were set up. Lori and I were separated in the rush of people, but she came back and found me. Getting a tight but comforting grip on my hand, she weaved in and out of the crowd with me in tow. Her hand was surprisingly hot; much warmer than a normal person's was. Finally finding a little tree set off to the side, we jumped up into it to escape the crowd. And who else would we find there but the infamous Sasuke Uchiha.

"What's up, Sasuke?" Lori asked in that fake cheery voice she had been using.

"Hn." He replied, but was given a powerful glare. "Oh, nothing." The Uchiha said.

"'Oh, nothing.' What kind of answer is that? It's the Konoha Fair for Christ's sake. Don't you have anything planned?"

I didn't want to get into what was obviously a running dispute. "I'm going to participate in the fighting tournament tomorrow." He said calmly.

"Good for you. Did you tell anyone what you were doing so they could come and watch you?" Lori asked, getting a little frustrated. She seemed to know what the answer was going to be and asked anyway.

"No…"

Lori banged her head up against the tree trunk repeatedly. "How the hell do you want to make friends if you don't even let anyone get close enough, damn it! There are at least three people besides myself that want you to be happy, but you are too stuck in your little pitiful world to let them show you!" Then her voice softened and she patted his shoulder. "Sasuke, be happy. That's all Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi and I want for you. Goodbye."

Lori grabbed my hand again and whizzed off. _What was that about? She acted as if she would never see him again. And I have never seen her get so emotional over something so simple. Lori actually seemed dead serious._ "Okay, what do you want to look at?" I shrugged, not really knowing what there was, to be honest. "Fine, let's look at everything." We pushed our way back through the crowd and started at the beginning of the stalls. Lori gawked at everything, urging me to find something I liked. I couldn't see how she found all of these things interesting. When we finally made it to the end of the market stalls, Lori caught sight of one of those photo booths. "Let's go in and get some pictures of your special day!" I grumbled as she pulled me into the tiny little booth.

We sat down on the tiny plastic seat and Lori put some coins into the machine. "Okay let's do a normal one," she said and smiled at the camera as it took the picture. Then she stuck her tongue out and gave me bunny ears. I sat there with my arms crossed the whole time.

Lori tried to tickle me, but it didn't work, of course. "Aw, Shika! You're no fun at all!" she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. It was the perfect impersonation of me. The camera took another shot. I had a brilliant idea. Right as the camera was about to go again, I stuck out my own tongue and gave Lori a pair of bunny ears too. She burst out laughing and I joined in throughout the rest of the pictures.

"Can't breathe!" she cried, laughing so hard that little tears streamed down her cheeks. At the sight of her, I started to laugh even harder. By the end of the pictures, we were leaning against each other, trying to catch our breath. We walked out of the booth, grabbing the two sets of ten pictures.

As she handed me over my little strip, I saw my favorite shop. As usual, Lori knew exactly what I was thinking and pulled me into Fabio's Famous Antiques.

"Hey! Old man, I'm back!" I called into the store and Fabio poked his head over the counter, looking at me with his rheumy eyes.

"Shikamaru, is that you I hear? Oh, and a new visitor." He said, talking about Lori.

"We're just going to look around." I explained and pulled Lori to all of the cluttered shelves. I could appreciate this place. All of the oldest and coolest things lay in this room, dormant, waiting to be unleashed. Every item from the past hundred years was here. Lori and I fiddled for a while in the front room, unrolling pictures on scrolls and opening boxes that held treasures inside.

Then I pulled her into the back room to see my favorite thing. But it wasn't there. "Old man where is that set that I wanted to buy?" I called.

He walked into the room, leaning on his cane and murmured, "A sweet young lady came in yesterday and bought it. I was going to say that it was on hold, but she seemed so excited to give it to her special someone that I couldn't break her heart." Lori looked like she was going to say something, but held it in.

The loss of that set clenched my heart for just a moment before I stomped the feeling into the dirt. "Oh well. Can't get everything you want. See you later Old man."

"Bye Fabio!" Lori called as we walked out the door. Said person gasped then chuckled, closing the door behind us.

I didn't comment on her silence as we made our way to the shogi tournament's arena.

"I wonder who I am going against first." I pondered aloud as Lori and I walked through the main entrance.

"Whoever it is, they had better be pretty good." A familiar voice said from behind.

"Hey Sensei," I greeted, "You joined the tournament?"

"Nope. A little birdie told me that you would be in it and I knew it was a waste of time." He said nonchalantly, taking a puff from his cigarette.

Realizing that they probably had never been introduced, I pulled them towards each other. "Lori, this is my Sensei, Asuma. Sensei, Lorraine Arashi." She bowed, automatically switching into her 'this is someone who has a big influence on one of my friends, so I'm going to be a suck up' mode.

"So I take it you are the girl that Shikamaru has been teaching to play shogi." I nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"You too, sir." _Ugh, she can be not troublesome when she wants to be._

He pushed us towards the sign in table. "Well, you two had better be off. The tournament starts any second now."

We checked in and got a good look at our opponents. Most of them were normal civilians, but others wore the ninja headbands from other countries. Lori and I went to our assigned tables and the tournament began. My opponent was a middle-aged man who chose the classic defense set up. I beat him within five minutes. As I waited for everyone else to finish, I went and watched Lori. She was up against a shinobi a little older than I was from the Mist Village. Lori beat him in ten minutes.

It continued like that; me winning my game and then watching Lori in hers. _For only playing for a few weeks, Lori is good._ I thought as she finished the 8th round. By then, only about twenty people were left, including us. "Having any fun yet, Shika?"

I shrugged. "It wasn't that difficult. But it will only get harder from here on out."

Lori was defeated in the 9th round by a very elderly woman with long white hair. "Aw nuts." Lori murmured as she shook the old woman's hand.

"You were very good young lady. How long have you been playing?" She asked.

Lori responded, "Only a few weeks." The woman gasped. "What?" Lori said, dumbfounded, "Is something wrong?"

"Not at all young lady. Your grasp of tactics was that of someone who has been playing for at least two years."

Pointing in my direction, Lori announced proudly, "I had a very skilled teacher."

The woman grinned, showing many missing teeth. "Well, let's just see how good your boy is." In the final round, I was against that same old woman. "So, young man, your most vocal cheerleader says that you are very good at shogi." She gestured towards Lori who was jumping up and down in the stands yelling encouragement. I shrugged, secretly happy that she was so supportive. None of my friends had ever taken interest in shogi or even watched me play. We started to do just that as the sun began to set. The proctors weren't ready for a game in the night, so we didn't have any light. I had to squint and almost lost my concentration.

Of course, Lori came to the rescue. She jumped down from the stands and went to one of wooden poles, pulling out her battle fan. Summoning a dragon, she whispered to it and it curled around the pole, glowing a bright, fluorescent green. She waved to us and went back in the stands, watching intently.

The old woman was good. Very good. Our game lasted about an hour before the woman stood up and said, "I'm not as young as I used to be. Old people just aren't built for staying up so late. I think I'll retire." Then she turned around and walked away.

"So not cool," I murmured as Lori ran down before the crowd could. Then she grabbed one of my hands and pulled it into the air.

"And Shikamaru Nara wins the Konoha Fair's First annual Shogi tournament!" Everyone in the arena clapped a round of applause and I rushed off, still holding Lori's hand. "That was freaking amazing, Shika! Have you ever been beaten?"

"No." Was my simple reply, and her jaw dropped.

"Are you serious?" She asked. When I nodded, the kunoichi continued, "I was told that you were a genius, but I didn't take that literally. That doesn't matter; did you have fun?" Lori asked, jumping up and down, holding both of my hands.

I was lucky we were in a dark-lit street because I couldn't help but feel a blush go across my cheeks. "Yeah. I haven't had that much fun in a long time."

She grinned a little and muttered quietly, "I'm glad…" and then her whole demeanor changed as she let go of my hands. "Is there anything else that you want to do before we go home?" I shook my head. Even though there were rides, I didn't really feel like going on any of them. "You sure?" She persisted, and I nodded again. "The fair doesn't come around for another year…" but I cut her off before the girl went off on a rant.

"I am absolutely, positively, 100% sure!"

Lori seemed satisfied with that and turned around to head home. But I stopped her. "All day you have been making sure that I did everything that I wanted. Is there something you want to do?"

A glimmer of mischief glinted in her eyes as she suggested, "How about we get a caramel covered apple before bed? I heard that they are really good."

I smiled as we made our way to one of the stalls. "One caramel covered apple please," I said to the vendor. He passed it to Lori and I handed him the money. She seemed a little distressed since I didn't get one, but I told her that if I had any more sugar than what was in her cobbler, my brain would explode.

The streets and the tops of buildings were crowded, so we decided to go through our field. I saw that Lori hadn't taken a bite of her apple yet and asked why. "I've never actually had a caramel apple before…"

She continued to gaze at it wearily and I heaved a sigh. Coming up close beside her, I stole a quick bite from it. "See," I spoke through the sticky mess, "It won't kill you."

Lori waited another few seconds as if to see if it was poisoned and slowly took a bite from it herself. Then she stopped in the middle of the field. Chewing it cautiously, a smile began to spread across her features, a real one that had been rare all that day. She went to say something but the caramel stuck her teeth together. I couldn't help but chuckle as she tried to separate them. After a minute or so, she got out, "This is really good! Except for the sticky part."

I chuckled even louder as we continued walking through the grass. "What are you laughing at?" she tried to inquire haughtily, but it didn't quite work out since her mouth was filled with the sticky treat.

"I just can't believe that Lorraine Arashi, the queen of honey, thinks that caramel is as good as honey."

She shook her head vigorously. "I never said that."

"It sure doesn't look that way," I laughed as she took the last bite.

"Whatever." She swallowed the monstrous chunk and turned around right before we entered the forest around the field. As she did so, a cloud passed over the full moon. "Ya know, clouds shouldn't be so full of themselves."

"What do you mean?" I asked her. Her comment was random.

"Well, the moon is always so beautiful when it is full, but I think that she doesn't want things to be jealous of her beauty. So she covers her face some of the time and we aren't bombarded by her pearly glow." I still didn't understand where she was going. "But when the moon does come out, the clouds are still jealous and cover her face again. Instead of looking at the moon when we can, the clouds prevent us from doing so."

"I don't get it. Where did this little outburst come from?" I asked but Lori shook her head.

"You'll understand at some point. Let's get home so I can give you your birthday present."

We turned into the forest and finally made it back to my house. But before I could jump up through the window, Lori wrapped a cloth over my eyes. "I don't want you peeking." She explained.

"What if I trip on the jump up?" I inquired.

She grabbed my hand and replied, "You are just going to have to trust me. Go when I say jump." I nodded, and she gave the signal. We landed with a soft thump on the balcony. I heard the window open and I slid through it cautiously. When I made cleared it, I heard Lori follow through herself.

Her long, work callused fingers slowly untied the knot, quickly transferring over my eyes. "Hope you like it…" She whispered, taking them off so I could see. I blinked slowly for a moment, not really believing what I saw. In front of me was the shogi set I had wanted from Fabio's. It was made completely from glass. The board itself had a midnight blue and creamy white checkers and the pieces were all hand made. It was already set up, ready for a game.

Astonished, I turned to see Lori grinning her face off. "Wow. I actually made Shikamaru Nara's mouth drop. Sweet." I couldn't even think of what to say. Having wanted this board for months, but not having anyone to play on it with, I thought it would be a waste of time. But I still liked the thought of owning the work of art.

"I…Lori…how?" Was all I could say.

"I didn't really know that you wanted it, but when I saw it in Fabio's shop, I knew that you would like it. Since Fabio's eyes are so bad, he didn't know it was me with you until I said goodbye. And I only did that to show him that it was going to someone who would respect it as artwork, but use it too."

"Thanks Lori. I really love it, but I can't accept…" A sharp whack to the head silenced me.

"You are going to accept it without argument or I will hurt you. If you break this board, I will never forgive you." I knew that I wasn't going to be able to win this argument, so I did the alternative. I wrapped her in a tight hug, which she didn't seem to be expect. Then I pulled away as I remembered whom I was hugging.

To ease the awkward moment, I pulled out one of the chairs and said, "I know we have played a lot today, but do you want to break in this new board with me?" She nodded and we played a few rounds. Lori continued to stare off into space occasionally. I even caught her staring at me with her lonely gaze when I looked up from making a move. As it grew closer to midnight, she became more and more distracted.

"I think it is time that you go home, Lori. You look beat. And Ryu has probably woken up at least a few times while we were gone." I suggested after we finished our 6th game.

"Yeah, I probably should…" but she trailed off. I turned around to reset the board as she went to jump through the window.

Suddenly, I felt a pair of arms wrapped around my neck from behind. She whispered in my ear, part of it in the smooth and haunting Dragon tongue. "Goodnight, Shika. _She'ara monsen tomuri resa._" Then she was gone before I could ask what it had meant. _That was weird. It felt a little…I dunno, maybe final?_ A sense of lurking dread hovered in the back of my mind as I fell into a fitful sleep, Lori's unknown words floating in and out of my troubled mind.


	13. Chapter 13

~Lorraine's POV~

Once I said my final goodbye to Shikamaru, I ran back to the apartment. Ryu was there, ready to go. "You got the food?" I asked. He nodded. "What about some more clothes for you? And did you pack up everything?"

"Yes, Mother. I did everything you asked." Ryu responded sarcastically. I turned around and got all of the letters for everyone that I had written the night before. _Do I really want to do this? Do I want to leave this new life and new friends behind? _Then I remembered all of the evil things I had done on my way from the Storm Village to Konoha. _No. I have to do this. Everyone I have come to love will be hurt if I don't. I won't risk their lives for my petty happiness._

Then I faced Ryu and commanded, "Wait here. I am going to deliver the letters. I'll be back in a few minutes." Without waiting for a reply, I jumped out the window and headed to the houses of Squad 7. First off was Sasuke's house. I slipped through one of the back windows and glided softly through the many halls and passageways. Then I spotted Sasuke curled up in a little ball on his bed, murmuring something about revenge. Gently, I placed an envelope by his desk, which I knew he would look at in the morning because his kunai pouch was sitting on it.

Sakura was next. I just opened the window of her bedroom and placed an envelope for her on the window seat. _Everyone here are idiots. They are going to get themselves killed by leaving all of their windows unlocked._ I pondered as I repeated the same process with Choji, Ino, Kiba, Guy Lee, Rock Lee, Tenten, Neji, and Kakashi's houses. I was infinitely more careful with the two sensei, but neither budged an inch.

Then I got to Kyo's shop. He and his wife were curled up beside each other in their bedroom, Kyo looking peaceful for once. I slid the letter into his slippers by the bed. _I have to see my favorite baby cousin one more time._ I thought as I made my way to Kyoshiro's room. He was snoring lightly, his bright head of red hair splashed like blood across the crisp white linen of his pillow. I gently kissed him on the forehead before turning around to leave. But with my dumb luck, I stepped on a squeaky toy. Wincing, I turned to see a drowsy Kyoshiro peak up from under his covers.

"Lori-chan, why are you here this late at night?" He asked in the innocent way that only oblivious children could.

"I have to do something really important, but I had to come here first. Just go back to sleep, little Shiro. There is nothing for you to worry about." He waved his arms in the air, asking for a hug. I obliged, and he whispered a soft 'I love you' before I tucked him back under the covers. The poor little kid was asleep in an instant. I doubt he would even remember the encounter after he awoke in the morning.

When I made it back to the apartment complex, I put one of the last six letters under the crack of Naruto's doorframe. I could hear the snoring from inside.

Ryu was waiting outside my window with my pack and without a word we jumped to Shika's balcony. Even though I had only left a half hour before, Shika was already dead asleep. I set the letters addressed to Gaara, his two siblings, the Hokage, Shika's parents and Shika himself on the new glass shogi board.

Ryu had stayed on the balcony as if to give me some privacy. Taking his hint, I walked up to Shika's sleepless form. As one final precaution for his safety, I summoned the tiny baby Shriek using the Wing. In Dragon I gave her my orders; to report to me if Shika was in danger and protect him at all costs. She nodded and disappeared from even my keen gaze. Then I looked at my best friend in Konoha for the final time. Well, at least for the final time before I was dead to him. He snored up a storm as he lay sprawled out on the bed, his black hair down. Holding back my urge to just grab him in a hug and never let go, I kissed his cheek. I turned away and heard him mumble "She'ara monsen tomuri resa.What the hell does that mean?"

_If only you knew, Shikamaru Nara. If only you knew._ And with great will power, I turned away and jumped out the window, with Ryu hot on my tail.

~Shikamaru's POV~

I awoke early the next morning to something I wasn't used to; nothing. No Lori jumping through my window or the smell of rice cakes in the air. I looked to the window sill where my breakfast was usually left, but nothing was there. _Oh well. Lori has better things to do than cater to me. She has her best friend over anyway. What a drag…_

Remembering the wonderful gift I received the previous night, I approached the glass shogi board that glistened with the pre-dawn light. Instead of just the pieces being on it, there were five envelopes next to them. Picking them up, I read the names 'Subaku no Temari and Kankuro', 'Subaku no Gaara', 'Hokage', 'Mr. and Mrs. Nara' and my own written down on the fronts. With a heart full of fear, I opened the letter addressed to 'Shika.' In it was the distinctive writing that no one in the world shared.

Dear Shika,

Ryu got into some trouble while I was gone and he needs some help getting rid of the problem. The thing is, Ryu has a great taste in enemies and I am not sure we will make it out alive. I am fully aware of this fact, but I will protect my friends at all cost; including giving up my life. And no, before you start guessing, this is not a prank. Some things you just don't kid around about. So by sunrise if I have not returned for this letter, I am gone; forever. If you aren't reading this than I wrote all of this for nothing and it was an unnecessary precaution.

I already gave most of the people in Konoha who were to receive a letter theirs last night. But I didn't want to risk waking up the Hokage by giving him his. And I might as well have just walked down the stairs and given your parents theirs, but I am way to lazy. You've rubbed off on me, it seems. The only other people I didn't get to were the sand siblings Subaku no Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. I would really appreciate it if you could deliver their letters to them in the Sand village. Their father is the Kazekage, so you should find them without a problem. Oh, Gaara has trouble with sleeping on his own and since his brother and sister won't help him, could you stay up in his room every once and a while to help him catch some sleep? I know you will enjoy his miniature library.

Back to you Shikamaru Nara. You need to loosen up a little bit. Let your hair down, (you don't have to literally). Being serious all the time makes people think you are a mean and conceited person. But you aren't and I would know. When you let yourself, your laugh and smile will brighten anyone's day like it did mine. Getting a girlfriend might help too you know. You're 15 and you have never been on a date? Come on; get with the program. Temari may be mean to her brother but you two would make such an interesting couple. She isn't as smart as you, but her tongue is way sharper than mine so she can keep up.

I get sidetracked way too easily. I wanted to thank you for everything you have done for me. And I mean everything; guiding me to the village, helping me find Kyo, waiting in line for me at the Hokage's office, shopping with me, teaching me shogi (even though I always lost) helping baby sit Kyoshiro…Deep breath! And many more. Most of all, though, I want you to know that I loved all of the time we spent together. All of the time we spent playing shogi at your house, eating at my apartment, visiting all of our friends, and watching the clouds roll by above our field. I can't forget the fair. That was tons of fun too. However much I hate to admit it, you were right. Caramel is as good as honey.

So just take my advice, Shika. Take some chances and live a little. Smile, laugh, and let more people into your heart. You might get hurt, but in the end, you will be much happier. That is all I ever wanted.

She'ara monsen tomuri resa,

Lorraine Arashi

I stood there in shock, reading the letter over and over again. It took ten minutes or so for what she had said to actually sink in. _Lori is…no, she can't be. But she wouldn't lie to me about something as important as that. Which means…_ And I walked down the stairs to my parent's bedroom with their letter.

They were both still asleep, so I nudged them awake. A look of concern crossed their faces as they saw me. Mom shot up like a rocket, instantly alert. "Shikamaru, what happened?" she asked, her voice filled with fear. I just handed the letter addressed to them and the Hokage to Dad. Mom continued to look at me as Dad opened their letter and scanned over it.

"Dear, look at this…" He passed it to her and as she read, she covered mouth in shock. Immediately, she pulled me into a fierce hug. I stood there, not really hearing what they said as Mom tried to comfort me. Mom then grabbed and tissue and wiped my face; I hadn't even realized that there were tears streaming from my eyes. Dad shook his head and ran off, probably to give the other letter to the Hokage.

"I'm so sorry Shikamaru. But she might still be okay…" But I shook my head.

"If Lori wrote that she was... Lori knows the extent of her own abilities, and knew that if she wasn't back by morning, then she wouldn't be back." Ushering me into the kitchen, Mom tried to keep my mind occupied. About ten minutes later, Naruto came rushing through our door.

"Shikamaru, where is Lori?" he yelled, waving a letter in his hand. I gestured to the letter in my own and he slumped up against the wall. Mom commanded him to sit down at the table, but the normally hyperactive ninja was barely coherent.

The process was repeated by Choji, Ino, Sasuke, Sakura, Kiba, and Akamaru. Mom rushed around the kitchen making breakfast for all of us as we sat around the table. We all dumbly read over the letter she left us. Even the stoic Sasuke seemed a little disgruntled. Sakura didn't even notice that she was in her pajamas in front of him, who was in some pajama pants. Naruto face was unreadable for once; a perfect poker face. Kiba sat in a corner with Akamaru on his lap, murmuring something to his little friend that I couldn't hear, and really didn't want to hear. Ino looked like she couldn't decide to laugh or cry as she read over her letter. When breakfast was finally done, Choji barely ate at all.

We all picked at our food, no matter how much Mom pestered us to eat. About half an hour after everyone's arrival, Dad showed up with Kakashi-sensei. Guy Lee and his squad showed up soon after.

I could tell that Naruto, Guy, and Rock Lee were about to burst into some heroic speech about how Lori was still alive, but I just couldn't stand it. I stood up and walked to my room without saying a word. It seemed like the visitors talked for a few minutes and then they started to leave. Tenten, Rock Lee, and Neji were the first to go, followed soon after by Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke. All of them still carried their letters in a vice grip. I looked down at my own hand to see it crumpled up in the same way. As I smoothed it out properly, there was a knock on the door.

"Shikamaru, can we come in?" Ino asked, sounding like she was about to cry. I didn't reply, so they stood by the door instead. "Guy, Kakashi, and your dad all went to talk to the Hokage. It ends up that most of the ninja in the village left early this morning to check out a huge explosion on the edge of Fire and Wind country. But they are going to send out a search party of our remaining ninja just in case." Ino added, "I'm so sorry Shikamaru. I know you two were close. If you need anything, you know where to find us." And their footsteps slowly faded away.

In my gut, I knew that Lori had probably caused the explosion. And when the report came a few hours later, my assumptions were proved true. Lori's leaf headband was found on the outskirts of the explosion sight, half melted on a boulder. Her name was still visible.

There were no trace of any bodies.


	14. Chapter 14

~Lori's POV~

"Damn it Ryu! Don't you think that explosion was a little too big?" I asked as we jumped away from the remains of my leaf headband, strategically placed so that my name was still visible on the rim.

"Don't be such a spoil sport. I know as well as you that the explosion had to be big enough that no swords, chunks of metal, or human remains would have survived. And they will just assume that your headband was knocked off in battle. It just happened to be far enough from the source that it would not be completely destroyed." He replied, being one hell of a smart ass. I told him so, but he shrugged it off. We continued on through the Great desert towards the Sand Village in silence. As if realizing that I didn't want to be spoken to, Ryu was more quiet than I had ever seen him.

When we set up camp, we put it in a spot that no sane ninja would, so that we probably wouldn't get any visitors in the night. Ryu summoned his first dragon, Shi, and let her go on guard along with Seth who I summoned. I didn't sleep a wink and just listened to Shi and Seth chatter about non-sense like two old women the whole night.

Since I was up before dawn, I cooked up some breakfast for Ryu. "Is that Rain's famous rice meal I smell cooking?" he asked, sticking his nose in the air. I nodded, and he put a sour look on his face. "Well, Sunshine, don't you look happy this morning?" He received a nice sound whack in the nose with a wooden spoon. Taking the hint, he shut up and got back into his normal clothes, slipping his shirt back on and putting pants over his 'peace and love' boxers.

I remembered the time when I asked Shika why guys always wear the weirdest boxer shorts. My heart tightened in my chest at the thought of my friend, but I held back the emotion. _It was all for his own good. If I had stayed, something bad would have happened and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if Shika got hurt because of me. __**What if he gets hurt because you are not there to protect him?**__ Shriek is there; she can take care of him. __**Shriek is just a baby. If a real threat comes along, no one can protect him.**__ But it would have been my fault if he had gotten hurt while I was there! _

The voices in my head were still arguing by the time Ryu had finished eating. "Aren't you hungry, Rain? You haven't eaten anything?" He asked, concerned.

"Oh, I just don't feel like rice meal right now. Maybe later." A few hours after we started off again, we both felt a presence coming in our direction. We took cover, suppressing our chakra as quickly as we could without a word being exchanged between us. Three people passed: Temari, Kankuro and Gaara. Gaara led the little pack. If you didn't know him, he would have seemed unconcerned. But I did, and I knew that something was wrong.

"Well," I commented when it was safe to talk, "At least we know that the explosion was big enough to attract the attention of some others." We continued through the desert, heading towards some random country we would pick when we got to the border.

~Shikamaru's POV~

I woke up early the next morning, still in the chair I sat in when we play shogi. _Played shogi._ Well, I couldn't exactly call it sleep. More like closing my eyes and hoping to open them to find that it was all a bad dream. But I saw the letter in my hand and my head by the glass board. I knew it was real. So real. Slowly, I sat up and looked directly across from me to the chair where Lori sits. _Used to sit._ A sudden memory flashed before my eyes.

~Memory~

"Ugh, Shika," she murmured under her breath, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "I don't understand!"

I tried to think of the best way to explain the game. Getting up, I stood behind her, at shoulder level. "You have to think of the board as a battle field," I gestured across it. "Each piece is the warriors you have, and it tells you at what level they can fight. You need to concentrate on the goal; to capture your opponent's king. You have to anticipate the move that they would make to get yours, so you can set up a trap. It is like fighting, in a sense, but a little more strategy than tactics."

Her face lit up with understanding and she took a deep breath. I sat back down and watched as she made her move. _Hah, it was the one I would have made in her position. It has only been three days since I started to teach her how to play, but now that I appealed to her fighting spirit, I think she is grasping the concept a little better._

~Back to present~

I choked back a little sob as I thought about how proud she seemed to be when she lasted more than five minutes against me. I read the letter again, taking in every detail, though it was already memorized. Her normal writing was so harsh, and I could see where her hand had smeared the paper. Only lefties left smudges, but Lori somehow figured out how to do it. But the signature was a perfect representation of her personality; pretty, but too outgoing to be called civilized and elegant. _What is wrong with me? I'm thinking that her signature represents her! __** Well of course it doesn't. Something as simple as writing couldn't define Lori.**__ Your right… __**Of course I'm right, I'm your logical reasoning.**_

I thought back to the Konoha fair. The day was definitely the most fun I had ever had. Lori looked like she was enjoying herself, but every once in a while I would catch her staring at me. Now I knew why. She was completely prepared to go on a suicide mission the next day. The strange way she acted towards Sasuke made sense too. I knew that she had been trying to get the Uchiha to trust people more. She wanted her last words to him to strengthen the idea in his mind. Then I remembered the photo booth and pulled the little strip out of a pocket I had Mom make in the lining of my headband months before.

There she was, sitting in the cramped booth beside me. First we both were just smiling at the camera. Then Lori was making a goofy face and doing bunny ears behind my head. Her attempts at tickling me didn't seem to be working in the next snapshot. I suppressed a chuckle when I saw how perfectly she impersonated my sour face. But I couldn't leave her unhappy for long, so in the next shot, I made a face myself and put bunny ears on the grumpy looking Lori. The camera had great timing when it caught a glimpse of Lori in shock at my actions, with me pointing and laughing. The next two shots were of us laughing our brains out, pointing at each other's ridiculous giggles. Lori had tears streaming our of her eyes as she held her stomach on the second to last shot. The final picture was of us leaning on each other back-to-back as we tried to catch our breath.

I almost started laughing myself until I remembered what had happened. The weight of the world fell onto my shoulders again as I slipped the letter and the photos back into the pocket of my headband. As slowly as an old man, I crawled under the cold covers of my bed as the sun began to rise. I didn't think I could face the light of another day without her. _Lori…_


	15. Chapter 15

~Lori's POV~

Ryu and I made it to the Sand Village without delay. There we stocked up on the few supplies that we would need for a week's worth more of travel. "Rain, don't you need some more honey?" Ryu asked when I only bought one more jar.

"Nah," I responded, "I don't really feel like honey. It just needs to be enough for you."

A look of astonishment crossed over his dark features as he gave the money to the vendor. "Lorraine Arashi not feeling like honey? Who are you, and what did you do with my Rain?" I shrugged, walking over to another stall. There were those tiny individually wrapped soft caramels sitting on a shelf just begging to be bought. I snagged a pound of the stuff and paid for it quickly, finding Ryu waiting for me outside the little shop.

"Since when have you developed a sweet tooth, Rain?" He asked when I popped one into my mouth. The sweet taste immediately reminded me of the Konoha Fair.

~Flash Back~

We were walking home from the shogi tournament when Shika asked me if I wanted to do anything. I was kind of hungry, but I didn't want to waste our precious last moments together cooking. So I thought of the treat that Choji had mentioned I might like. "How about we get a caramel covered apple before bed?" One of those precious few smiles covered his lips as we walked up to the stand. Shikamaru bought one apple for me because his head was going to explode if he had any more sugar before bed.

Continuing on to the field, the brown substance on the apple glinted back at me menacingly in the moonlight. Shika noticed I hadn't taken a bite yet and asked why. "I've never actually had a caramel apple before…" I replied and saw him bend down to where I held the treat, taking a bite off near the top.

"See? It won't kill you." Shika mumbled.

I shrugged, taking a much smaller bite off it the caramel apple. The saccharine flavor immediately reminded me of honey and I knew that Choji was right. I do like candy things more than I thought. Usually I never had real sweets, just food made with honey or sugar. But this stuff was great! Except for the sticky part. And I told my friend so.

I saw Shika chuckling out of the corner of my eye. Trying to sound angry, I barked "What are you laughing at?" but it came out all wrong. It sounded more like a little kid who glued their mouth shut.

This just caused him to laugh even more. "I just can't believe that Lorraine Arashi, the queen of honey, thinks that caramel is as good as honey."

"I didn't say that…"

He shook his head. "You might as well have." I continued to eat the delectable treat, but Shika was always my main focus. _I won't see you ever again, Shika. Let's just hope that this last memory of me will be a good one._

~End Flash Back~

"Rain? Hello! Did you hear me? Earth to Rain; come in Rain." Ryu said, waving a hand in front of my face. I stuck my tongue out, licking his hand. "Eew, Rain germs!" He complained as I wiped my tongue off with my hand.

"You taste bad, Ryu. Wash your hands more often, why don't 'cha?" He huffed and stole a candy from my bag. He tossed it into his mouth and almost immediatly made a disgusted face.

Spitting it out, Ryu murmured, "That stuff is gross. Too sweet."

"Get over it," I said through a mouthful of caramel, "You got over your dislike of honey in the end."

"That was different. All you or your mom ever made was crap with honey in it. I would have starved to death if I hadn't choked it down." He said and a look of guilt crossed his face. I knew he thought that I would break down into tears at the thought of my parents. But it wasn't just the fact that my parents were killed that I went on my killing spree a year before. We hopped on out of the village of Sand, my friend Gaara's home.

~Shika's POV~

_Psh. That saying that time heals all wounds is completely wrong. It's more like time bursts the wounds open wider._ I thought as I woke up a two weeks after Lori's death.

_**Don't be so full of yourself. It has only been a short time. It might be months or years before the pain fades, not a few days. But the pain will never go away forever. I hope you realize that.**_That little voice in the back of my head commented.

_I do, you idiot. If you realize it and you are a part of me, then I do know! _

_**Calm down. I didn't want to get too complicated on your troubled mind.**_

_Whatever._ I argued with myself as I got up and dressed. I planned on going to the library to see what Lori's message in Dragon meant.

_I don't know why I even bother. It won't work anyway._ I continued as I went downstairs for the breakfast I didn't find waiting for me on my windowsill. Mom greeted me with a warm smile. "Good morning son. How did you sleep?" she asked, being way too cheerful. Mom always seemed to think that I was going to break down at any second.

"Same as usual." I responded as I normally did. A frown flickered across her face. Mom and Dad both knew that I rarely slept the night through any more. When I did sleep, I always dreamed of my memories with Lori. It would cut off with her in the middle of a huge field, whispering those unknown words in Dragon. Then at least fifty enemies would pop up around her. Lori would pull out her sword and an exploding tag. The ending was so gruesome that no matter how many times I saw it, I would still wake up screaming.

Nowadays I just sat outside on my balcony and looked at the moon, trying to decipher what she had said in the meadow about the jealousy of the clouds.

Mom handed me my breakfast and sat down beside me, watching me eat slowly. It was something she used to do when I was little. She had called it her 'breakfast bonding time', and we would talk. However, when I turned ten, she decided that she couldn't baby me anymore. Now, she brought it back. It was probably to show me that she had time to listen to anything that I might want to tell her. There wasn't much to tell. My best friend was dead and I could do nothing about it.

_**Woah, Shikamaru! You actually admitted that Lori-chan was your best friend. You are one more step forward to closure. **_

_And every time you open your big mouth, I go three steps back. _

_**Ouch. It bites…**_ But I cut off my ranting and waved goodbye to my mom.

I don't know why I waited so long to go to the library to get the closing of the letter translated.

_**Maybe it is because you couldn't help but break out into tears every time you heard it. **_

_I hope you rot in Hell, you stupid new personality._

'_**If I fall you're going down with me! Going down with me baby, if I fall…' Oh, I'm such a wonderful country singer, don't you agree?**_

I made it to the library and went straight to the little old lady that sat at the front desk. "Matilda," I asked her, "Do you know where I can get some information on the language of the Hidden Storm Village?" She turned towards me and laughed that maniacal laugh that all old lady librarians seem to have.

"So the prodigy Nara hasn't read every book in our library. What a surprise." I waited for her to stop. "Language of the Storm Village will be in S2."

Our library was huge, with three main rooms and dozens of side rooms for each. One of the main rooms was for fiction writings. Another was for the history of our village in general, with side rooms of the general history of all of the other villages. The last was a room for the ninja. The main room was filled with the history wars we had waged on the other countries and villages. Some of the other side rooms had military information pertaining the villages and the techniques from each place. Or you could just learn the techniques like Taijutsu or Ninjutsu.

I headed to S2, which was apart of the general facts and history section. The side room S was tiny, with only a few shelves. The Storm Villages shelf was only two feet wide. I searched through each book but decided that I couldn't get it all done in the library. So I grabbed all ten books and headed to the desk. "Mr. Nara, you are only allowed to take two books at a time…" But I think something in my gaze made her change her mind, and she checked out all of them for me.

I passed Sakura on the way out, who was carrying a similarly high stack of books with her. We just nodded and I went home. Not wanting to look at the glass shogi board, I settled with reading in the kitchen. Mom was busy going around the house, keeping it running as smoothly as she ever did.

I read all of that day and night at the table, finally falling into a dreamless, almost coma-like sleep about and hour before sunrise. When I woke up, it was to the smell of breakfast. I shot up off of the table, and headed to where my window would have been in my room. Mom was there instead, holding a plate of food for me. I automatically slumped back into the chair.

"How goes your research?" Mom asked and Dad popped up behind her.

"Yeah Shikamaru, you stayed down here all night. I hope you found what you were looking for." I shook my head. "Maybe I can help.."

I repeated the head shake, saying, "Unless you speak Dragon."

Mom looked at me as if I were being stupid, but refrained from making such remark. "Why don't you ask Kyo to decipher it? He was originally from the Storm Village, so he knows the native tongue." I banged my head on the table.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why didn't I think of that? _

_**Because when you thought of Kyo, you thought of Kyoshiro. And when you think about Kyoshiro, you remember what Lori said to you in the meadow. You have been trying to avoid the things that remind you of her. But even a genius can't do that. She was every where with you…**_

__I hugged my Mom quickly and yelled as I was halfway out the window, "Mom, you are a genius!" The two of them stared at me, dumfounded.

Since Kyo's forges wasn't but a minute's walk from my house, I was there in about ten seconds when I ran. I burst through the door to find Mila behind the counter watching Kyoshiro play with some blocks. The little boy jumped up and pulled me into a crushing hug, saying in his squeaky little voice, "Uncle Shikamaru, where have you been?"

"I was busy, Kyoshiro. How have you been?" I replied, and the boy hugged my leg a little harder, burying his face into my pants.

"I miss Aunt Lori…" he whispered, and I felt my heart break a little more.

Mila immediately grabbed her son and put him on her hip. Then she grabbed me around the shoulders with one arm and said, "We all miss Lori."

Not wanting to burst out in tears in this woman's arms, I pulled away and said, "Is Kyo around?" She nodded, gesturing towards the forge.

I ran down the stairs and into the stifling heat of Kyo the Blacksmith's famous forge. Kyo was standing there, pounding away at a chunk of white hot metal. I tried to get his attention, but he didn't hear me. I waited until he submerged the metal into a bucket of water, the room suddenly became humid with the sudden increase in water in the air. Suddenly his head snapped in my direction, acknowledging my presence.

"Can I help you, Shikamaru?" He walked towards me, wiping his hands on the leather apron he wore.

"I hope so. Do you still remember how to speak Dragon?" I asked.

"Yeah. It was my first language, English being my second. Why do you ask?"

Pulling out the letter from the pocket of my sleeve, I passed it to him. "Can you translate that last bit at the bottom of the page? I couldn't find any records of the language at the library."

The light had dimmed to a flicker when Kyo had stepped away from the flames, so he made a hand sign and a luminescent red orb appeared in the palm of his hand. He sat down at a sturdy looking table and placed both the letter and the light down. After looking at it for a minute or two, he sighed. "Sorry, but I can't help you." I looked at him strangely for a second, and he clarified.

"In the Storm Village, there are two types of Dragon: Common, for every day folk, and the Ancient, which is for ninjas. This is Ancient Dragon."

"But then why can't you understand it. You are a ninja."

"I am," he said. "It's how I make my living. I manipulate the flame to the perfect temperature so the metal is just right. Fire is just about the only thing I can work with. I only ever summoned one dragon, just so that I would be recognized as a ninja. But the ninja that learn Ancient are special. They are either the Dragon Keeper, or the future Keeper."

I knew that the Keeper was very important, from what Lori had told me. "Then how does Lori know Ancient Dragon?"

He smiled a faint shadow of his former smile and I realized I said does instead of did. Kyo brushed it off. "Lori was the most powerful ninja in the village besides Ryu. Ryu was pure muscle and brute strength. Lori had the natural talent of being able to do any jutsu she was taught. They had been training together since they were very little and were going to take over the Dragon Keeper's position as the keeper of the peace between the humans and Dragons as partners."

"So you are telling me that the only other person who knows Ancient Dragon is the Keeper?" I had known in the back of my mind that I wouldn't have found out what her message meant. Now I knew that the world really did have some vendetta against me.

Kyo nodded. "And you will probably never get her to translate that for you. She is a mean little woman, but she is probably the best Keeper since the First. Akira Toshibi taught Lori and Ryu the language so that when they took over, they would be able to understand the oldest of the Dragons who are too stubborn to learn Common."

"Thanks for all of your help. At least I won't be looking for this anymore." I said, and took the letter back.

He grabbed my arm before I walked out and said, "It is I who should be thanking you, Shikamaru. Lori really enjoyed spending time with you."

I nodded dumbly and heard the roar of the fire start as I walked back up the stairs. Kyoshiro was waiting for me. "Uncle Shikamaru, can you come over and play with me sometime?"

Mila laughed, and scolded the little boy gently. "Shikamaru probably has better things to do than play with you."

I shook my head. "Not today, but maybe later." Both Kyoshiro and Mila smiled and waved goodbye as I headed back home.

_Damn. I didn't find out what that meant. And I probably never will, by the sounds of that Akira Toshibi person. Maybe it is written down somewhere. _

_**Wouldn't get my hopes up, my boy. Didn't you hear what Kyo said? It was only used to talk to the old hag dragons. And none of the books you read said anything about a Common and Ancient Dragon. Konoha has the largest library in the known world. You are doomed to never knowing what she last said to you. **_

_Just shut-up._ I thought. Nevertheless, I was sure that that troublesome voice was right.


	16. Chapter 16

~Ryu's POV~

Rain and I had been on the road for about a month when we made it to the very edge of Lightning Country. We had been making our money by offering our ninja services to the countries we went to. Of course, we couldn't exactly go by our real names or show up looking the same. So I ended up as Ryuzaki Hinamori, and Rain was Rain Shiara.

~Flash Back~

"Come on, Ryu, what the hell kind of alias is Rain Shiara? Or Ryuzaki Hinamori?" she criticized when I passed her our new passports during the first week of travel.

"Well, the only person who ever called you Rain was me, so most people know you as Lori or Lorraine. And you can still call me Ryu since my old name was Ryuga Hibachi, but my new name is Ryuzaki." I explained.

"Yeah, but isn't Shiara just Ara and Shi put backwards?"

"Umm…Yes." She gave me a sound whack in the head.

"If anyone hears about two rouge ninja with those names, we are going to have ninja on our tails in a heartbeat." Rain complained as we set off again. She looked like she had aged ten years since we had left. And she was so much thinner too. But I wasn't very surprised; all she ate was caramel candy, green apples, and rice cakes. I had to beg and plead with her to eat normal meals.

"What are we going to look like?" I asked, since the passports didn't have any photos on them yet. She shrugged. I had always liked Kyo's red hair, so I tried a darker and shaggier version out with some chocolate brown eyes. I also made myself look more 18 than 14. Rain looked at the suddenly dark clouds overhead and made her hair a similar grey. Then she aged herself until she was 35 or so. To be honest, it wasn't that much of a change from her normal appearance nowadays. The smile wrinkles around her eyes were a little more apparent, accentuating her new hazy green orbs and her stiff movements could be attributed to working as a ninja for so many years.

"Do you think that is a big enough difference?" she asked, looking in a puddle we passed by.

"Yeppers. Now all you have to do is alter the passport pictures." I said cheerily, and suddenly she stopped mid-stride. _Oh, no! What did I say this time? _ She wore the same sad and haunted look she always had on when she thought of the Leaf village. Waving her hand over the passports, Rain put our newly altered images on them and continued walking.

"We should probably hit an inn before it starts to rain." I commented as we approached a small village. Rain nodded and suddenly was on a collision course with the ground. On instinct, I reached out and grabbed her bridle style before her nosedive ended up smashing her nose and jumped into a nearby tree. _She must have lost twenty pounds! _I thought as I checked her pulse. For a girl who made her living as a ninja and had to stay in top physical condition, she hadn't had an ounce of excess weight to lose. Twenty pounds in a month was more like a hundred on an anorexic person. All that was left was skin and bones, if that at all.

Rain's pulse was fine and her breathing was normal. I pulled her eyelids back and saw that her eyes were twitching. _She just fell asleep right in the middle of the road. No way! Rain has never done this before, even when we went hiking up the Dragon Mountain for a month._ But it didn't bother me as much as her sudden loss of weight. Her falling asleep could be accounted for malnutrition. Luckily for me, she still looked like 'Rain Shiara', so I picked her up and carried her to the first inn in the village. I got us one room and laid her out on one of the single beds.

_God, Rain, I knew that leaving the Leaf village was hard for you, but I didn't expect you to take it this badly._ I had convinced myself that Rain would have gotten over the whole thing after a while, but with this new occurrence, I knew it wasn't true.

A while later, Rain woke up from her sound sleep. "Dude, what happened?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"You just fell asleep in the middle of the road. If you were tired, you should have just told me. I would have carried you, ya know." I commented as she pulled herself up from beneath the blankets of the bed. She nodded, probably just to make me shut up, and turned towards her pack. But I stopped her.

"Today, we are going to eat a normal meal and you won't be cooking it." I said, and she gave me the classic 'what-the-hell-do-you-think-you're-talking-about' look.

"Ryu, if I'm not cooking, who is?" I gestured towards myself. There was a silent pause. And then she burst out laughing. The giggles shook her tall frame dangerously as she poked me in the chest. "Oh, really? You think that you can cook something without poisoning whoever eats it or burning this hotel down? I want to see this."

"Too late. I already cooked it." Sitting on the table in the middle of the room was a beef stew. "Smells great. I have to give my compliments to the chef." Rain said and I waited for her to add more. But she just stuck her head out the door of the room and yelled "Hey! Could someone tell the room service people that the stew is great?"

I crossed my arms over my chest and demanded, "How did you know that I just ordered it?"

Rain gave me a sly smile and said "Ryu, even if you could have cooked the stew, where would you have done it? In the middle of this room? There is no stove here and I would have woken up because of the sudden use of chakra if you had made the fire yourself." I laughed, thinking, _It's nice to be back with Rain. She is one chick you just can't trick._

"Well, at least you know that you won't die if you eat it, so have some. I already ate mine." I said, pouring her a bowl of the hot stew.

Grudgingly, she took it from me and blew on a spoonful to cool it down. "Whatever." She murmured. I waited for her to take a bite, staring at her patiently. When she noticed that, she turned to me and scolded, "I'm not going to sit here and eat as you watch me like a freaking dog. Go and do something productive." I shrugged and went to stock up on some more supplies.

When I got back, Rain was asleep again. The bowl was empty and I was satisfied she had eaten something good for her. Then I went to jump out the window to look for a job for the two new rogue ninja in town. Instead of landing on solid ground, I slipped on something slick. Picking up my foot, I saw chunks of potato and meat smashed into the sole of my shoe. _Damn it, Rain. Would you let me help you for once, instead of you trying to be tough all the time?_


	17. Chapter 17

~Lori's POV~

Three months had passed since Ryu and I had started out. Everything was working out as well as we could have hoped. No one was talking about the two rogue ninja who just seemed to pop up out of nowhere. Ryuzaki Hinamori and Rain Shiara just passed through the small towns and villages, unseen unless they needed money. When they did, they just offered their very humble and modest services as ninja to the town. And almost every village needs help from ninja, as it happens.

Once we were in the Mist village when we crossed the "Great Naruto Bridge." I remembered how much I had not believed Naruto's tale of how he helped save the builder of this bridge from the dreaded Zabuza Momichi. As I recounted the story to him, Ryu wasn't exactly thrilled. I don't really know why.

But we needed to stay in town for a few days, so we went to a very indiscrete hotel by the river. When I told the woman behind the counter that we would like a room, she asked, "Do you want one of your own or do you mind sharing with your son?"

Forgetting that I looked about 35 in my disguise, I just about blew up the little place with laughter. I was giggling hysterically when Ryu came up behind me and clamped a hand over my mouth. "Ma'am," he said in his husky voice, "My cousin and I would like separate rooms with an adjoining door, if you please."

The old hag didn't exactly know how to take back what she had said, so she hurriedly escorted us to our requested rooms. When we got there, I was still laughing. "What was so funny about that, Rain?" Ryu asked as we opened the adjoining door and got to unpacking our stuff.

"Well, I didn't tell you this before, but someone said the same thing about us a few days ago. Some hermit on the road, if I remember correctly. And he was as blind as a bat, so he must have just gotten it from our actions. Are you my long-lost son that I couldn't have possibly had, Little Ryu?"

"I am older than you, ya know!" But I just shrugged it off. _Only by like, 5 days. _

"According to most people, I am more mature, which makes me seem older."

Ryu commented sarcastically, "Oh, that makes you such an old woman. You chose the perfect disguise, Mrs. Shiara." If I had let that kind of insolent attitude slide, Ryu's head would have blown to ten times its normal size, which was big enough as it was. So I whacked him hard in the back of the head. Well, it was supposed to be hard, but he didn't smash into the wall like I had planned him to. Instead, he just slid back a few inches.

_Damn, I have depleted so much of my chakra by keeping Shriek summoned this long and this far away. _And as if the sudden thought of my little friend back in the Leaf village triggered the occurrence, I collapsed.

I awoke a few hours later with my childhood friend hovering over me. "Rain, what the hell is going on? The collapsing happens more often now. And I'm noticing that you are getting a fever. Tell me what is going on."

"I am absolutely fine, Ryu! Nothing is wrong." I attempted to sit up, but fell over.

"Bull shit. Lorraine Arashi, you had better tell me what is wrong or I swear on my sword that I will go back to the Leaf village and tell everyone you are alive."

"You wouldn't dare…" I said, but I knew he wasn't kidding. He was like my dad, only ever calling me by my full name when I was in big trouble. Ryu would never swear on his sword, White Lily, unless he was dead serious. And to put the cherry on top, Ryu hadn't said anything about the Leaf Village since we had left. He knew it hurt me to even think about my old home.

I sighed, resigning to my fate. Ryu settled down, ready to hear what I said. "You know how we left the village?" He nodded.

"Well, before we left, I kind of left something to keep someone safe…"

A look of shock crossed his dark features as he contemplated what I said. "No… You can't be serious? Did you summon a dragon to protect someone there?" I nodded. In an instant, Ryu had grabbed me by the shoulders and was shaking me so hard that it actually hurt. "Lorraine, do you even know what you are doing to yourself!" The tears of anger and pain in his eyes made me want to look away, but I forced myself to keep eye contact. He deserved that much.

Slowly, he dropped his hands, taking in deep breathes. I didn't blame him for being so violent. I would have killed him myself for doing what I was. "Rain," he whispered, his voice quivering, "We have been hundreds of miles away from the Leaf villag, and you have kept this jutsu up. Do you know how much chakra you are using? No, I don't even need to ask. I know you know already. You know more about it than I do. But I don't think you remember what you are doing to your body."

I cut him off. "The link between us has to be strong enough to carry out the particular orders I gave her; nothing more." Of course, he had to ask what the orders were, specifically. "To report to me regularly and to keep Shikamaru safe at all costs." Ryu began to shake even harder than before and now I realized that his dragon, Coal, was trying to take him over during his sudden burst of intense emotion. It was the only time it had happened since he completed his training to be the Keeper.

"The strain on your body to keep the link on Shriek is bad enough, added up with the fact that you have to have enough chakra flowing to her to keep her summoned. Practically starving yourself doesn't help. But saying to keep Shikamaru safe was too much, Lorraine."

When he said that, my blood boiled as intensely as his was with Coal trying to take over. With a sudden burst of strength I didn't think I had anymore, I grabbed Ryu by the neck and slammed him into the wall. Holding him up with just one hand, I hissed in our native tongue, "Don't ever say that keeping Shika safe is 'too much.' You should respect the fact that he means a lot to me, enough that I said at all costs. And before you question my sanity, I know what all costs means. It includes Shriek sacrificing herself after she drains every ounce of strength from my body and psyche to save him. Shikamaru Nara means that much to me, Ryuuga Hibachi, and you should keep that in mind."

For a fraction of a second, I saw some new emotion I didn't recognize flash through Ryu's eyes. I instantly dropped him. He landed on the ground with a thud and looked up at me with sad but now understanding eyes. "I didn't know he meant that much to you, Rain. Now I do…"

Ryu's voice trailed off and I felt a sudden pang of guilt rush through me. Dropping down in front of him, I hugged him as we used to do all the time when we were kids, before we had to grow up too fast, before we had to train to take over as the Dragon Keepers. "I'm sorry, Little Ryu. I shouldn't have snapped out at you like that. I'm not angry with you. Can you forgive me?" Slowly, he wrapped his arms around me and nodded and we sat on the floor like that for what seemed like an eternity. Dictating that this rare emotional outburst was over, I pulled away from his familiar grasp.

I made us some dinner and even ate it too just to appease Ryu. But looking up from my bowl of stir-fry, I saw that the peace wouldn't last too long.


	18. Chapter 18

~Shikamaru's POV~

It had been four months since Lori had died and two months until the long-awaited chunin exams. Asuma-sensei was training my mind but mostly my physical strength in preparation. The whole ordeal was really starting to become a bother.

"You're too slow, Shikamaru. Bad reflexes are a disadvantage you can't have since you're already a weakling. If you can learn to dodge, you will survive long enough to do whatever plan you have cooked up in your head," he yelled, throwing kunais and shurikens at me as we jumped through the trees on the outskirts of the village.

After another hour of constant dodging and yelling, we stopped for a break at a small park. There, sitting on a pavilion, was a shogi board. My heart almost stopped as Asuma walked towards it, but I followed anyway. Sitting down on one side, he motioned for me to do the same. Cautiously, I settled myself on the rickety bench.

"Even though I know I won't win, are you up to a game?" he asked. I nodded and looked out at the board. It wasn't made of oak like the one my father had given me but a solid red cherry for more durability outdoors. Remembering how Lori had said that the board her father had had pieces worn smooth with age, I picked up the Dragon King and rubbed it between my fingers. It was a nice feeling; level except for the worn engravings to identify the piece.

Seeing that Asuma had already made a move, I made one myself. While he thought of his play, I stared up at the clouds through a hole in the pavilion roof. _What did she mean when she said the clouds were jealous of the moon? And what did her last words to me mean?_ The game continued on like that, me daydreaming as Asuma carefully planned his next move.

A few minutes later, I looked down and saw that my sensei had won for the very first time. Astonished at the fact that I finally had my first defeat, I stared at Asuma in shock. He just sat there and looked out at the clouds himself, pulling our a cigarette. "When was the last time you played?" His voice was calm and undemanding. Just a simple, ordinary, normal question.

"Four months ago…" I said.

"Why so long, Shikamaru?" Asuma inquired, taking a puff of his cigarette.

I hadn't really talked to anyone about the pain I was feeling, even though many people had offered to listen. But as I heard him ask the question so nonchalantly, without any expectation, I had to answer. "Lori and I played shogi at least once a day together at my house."

Asuma nodded in understanding, "That explains it. Lorraine meant a lot to you, didn't she?" I mirrored his gesture, not quite being able to recognize if the weight on my chest was lessening or growing.

"I remember when you came to my house in the middle of the night, worried that she would be bad news for the village. You took it upon yourself to watch her, but you two became fast friends." Sensei said. It was nice not talking about how saying something would ease the pain or that I should move on. He just stated facts. Things I could understand seemed to be rare lately.

"Yeah, but she was still troublesome, no doubt about it. She either hated you with a passion or was willing to sacrifice herself for you. There was no middle ground. I just wish that she wasn't so willing to protect people with her life…" I trailed off, realizing that I was telling this to Asuma-sensei, not some shadow on the wall.

The man sighed. "I'm not counting this game as defeating you, Shikamaru. When your mind is actually in the game is when I am going to truly beat you. Not when you are so struck with grief and sadness that you can't concentrate." I nodded, understanding that if he wanted a victory, he wanted to actually beat me, not what I had become nowadays.

Switching subjects, I asked, "Do you think I will be ready for the chunin exams in two months?"

He shrugged and inhaled another puff from the cigarette. "It really depends on the final rounds. You should be able to make it through the written exams if you actually put some effort into it and you'll be fine on the survival test because you will be with Ino and Choji. But if you get paired up with the wrong person in the individual battles, you are pretty much screwed. You don't have enough stamina yet and one good hit will take you out of the game. Genin have killed their opponents in the final rounds. There is absolutely no way that you will make it if you are up against Sasuke Uchiha, Neji Hyuuga, Rock Lee or that Gaara of the Desert.

I remembered when he had come around the day Lori had died.

~Flash Back~

The horrible day that Lori died, I was falling apart inside. I read and reread the letter she had left for me so much that I had it memorized in a single afternoon. I looked down at the letters on the shogi board she had left for me to deliver to the others. Dad had already gone and delivered the letters for those living in town. The only ones remaining were for the Sand Siblings and Subaku no Gaara. My mind was focused only on Lori and how she was gone, not how to fulfill one of her final wishes.

The air in my room became suffocating. Grudgingly, I walked towards the window for fresh air to clear my head. When I looked across to Lori's apartment complex, instead of an empty couch being on the balcony as I expected, a person was standing on it. He was relatively short with fiery red locks and a blank face. But the most striking thing was the giant gourd that lay on his back.

_That is where that name seems so familiar! I remember Lori telling me after her first mission about a red-head ninja named Gaara. _Seeing that he was going into her home, I hopped over, taking his and his siblings letters with me. Almost immediately after I set foot onto the balcony, sand crawled up my leg like a snake.

"Who are you?" he asked monotonously. The symbol for love on his forehead was a glaring contrast to his disposition.

"Shikamaru Nara. Are you Subaku no Gaara?"

He nodded stiffly. I felt the grip on my leg loosen and float away. "Lorraine told me about you. You're her lazy friend, the genius. Where is she?" I scowled at the thought of Lori describing me to strangers like that. Unable to come up with the words to say the devastating news, I passed him a letter and looked around the room.

Her little bedroom seemed so much smaller without her in it. I walked around the apartment more, gazing at the empty rooms echoing with footsteps that were no longer there. I half expected Lori to pop up out of nowhere and laugh, pulling the mother of all tricks on everyone. But she didn't come.

Slowly, I retreated to her bedroom, where Gaara stood motionless against the wall. The only sign of distress I could see was his white knuckled grip on the desk. He didn't seem to hear me reenter the room. Suddenly, a scowl covered his ghost-like features and his water washed green eyes were filled with anger. Turning away from me, I heard him utter a curse and jump off into the city streets.

I contemplated following him for but a fraction of a second but went against it. _How can I help someone mourn when I have yet to fully grasp the concept of her death myself?_ The day continued on, with me sitting in the vacant apartment, waiting for my friend to return.

~End Flashback~

"Shikamaru, are you awake in there?" Asuma asked, waving his hand in front of my face. I sighed in response, looking again at the clouds. Today they seemed to be swirling faster than usual, so that if you took a picture of one, it would be completely different to a snapshot of it a minute later. Lori liked these clouds more than most others since you didn't have to wait to long to see the change. I didn't like them as much; they seemed to be too flighty and not on the right course of things. Her favorite clouds were the thunderheads since they were so vast they churned into an almost inconceivable space.

Concluding from our differences in liking clouds, I saw something that I knew already. I like being neutral, like the normal clouds you see everyday. Not too big, not too little, not too fast, not too slow. Lori preferred the extremes: either small and ever changing or big and beyond description.

I continued on this train of thought after Asuma Sensei left me to myself. _We complimented each other. One so neutral that he was boring and one so out of the ordinary that she needed boring time to relax. If Lori hadn't come around, I would have just remained huddled in my own little world, not enjoying the wonders of life. And I would like to think that Lori needed me to help her settle down a bit and enjoy the simple things of everyday life._

_**Maybe you need to do something exciting to help rejoice in her memory. **_The little voice in my head was becoming increasingly present. It didn't even bother me anymore. Much.

_Like what? _I replied silently, just in case someone was passing by.

_**I know you planned to just barely pass the chunin exams, but maybe if you showed a little effort and went farther than planned, it will show you can go out of your comfort zone.**_

_What do I have to prove? _

_**That you won't forget what Lori taught you about living in the moment. **_

_Why not? What do I have to lose now? _

_**A limb or two. **_

_Thanks, you are such a bundle of joy. You are a rainbow on a cloudy day. _

_**I know, aren't I? They should have sculptures of me on every street corner. Well, you and me, since I am you. Eh, whatever.**_

Unbeknownst to me, a small blue dragon flittered into a tree nearby when I set off for home.

~Lori's POV~

As had been happening every night since I left, Shriek visited me in my dreams. She usually came at the beginning, before I had any dreams myself. The background was always a fading gray haze as I heard her disembodied voice through the darkness. Like most young dragon's of her species, she took pride in her intelligence and spoke with a sophisticated air.

**Shikamaru Nara is in good condition. No injuries resulting from the smoking human man's extensive training. That is all he did today besides eat and sleep. He avoids doing anything beyond what is necessary to survive and his ninja duties.**

_Good, _I thought. _Maybe if Asuma teaches him to defend himself for the exams, it might prove useful in the future. _Shika's lack of human interaction worried me a little, but he had always enjoyed the company of the clouds rather than people. "What about the nightmares?" I thought to her.

**He continues to wake up in the night screaming. The boy does not tell anyone about it; I know for I am with him at all times. **She just had to add that bit. I was jealous of the dragon. **The only other beings who know about that are his parents.**

I continued to wonder about what his dreams were about. They worried me very much. I knew firsthand how dreams could be devastating.

**That is the end of my report.** Shriek said when I failed to reply.

_Thank you,_ I thought as she disappeared. She was replaced by the fuzzy images of the morning of the raid. I tried to block out the images of the fire and the carnage. But the more I struggled against it, the faster and more terrifying the images came. It slowed to molasses as I tried to run to the house and save Ryu from inside the burning home. As always, I was unable to do a thing.


	19. Chapter 19

~Ryu's POV~

I watched Rain continue to waste away as it got closer to her 15th birthday. Of course, I wanted to give her a present that she would like, but she wasn't interested in much anymore. The clouds were the only things that could hold her attention for any period. I began to wonder how much longer she could go without losing what little bit of her was left.

Something else that worried me was her physical health. The fainting spells continued to increase overtime and no matter how much I begged and pleaded her, Rain refused to let go of the dragon watching Shikamaru. Now, however, she refused to succumb to the puppy dog look. I tried to deny what was nagging at me for the longest time, but my conscience wouldn't let me. Even my body's resident dragon, Coal, was bugging me about it.

Rain loved Shikamaru. Maybe not as a lover, though definitely as a friend. She probably loved him as much as me or even more.

And that hurt.

We had been best friends for so long, I thought it would always remain so. Rain and I were practically twins; never before the raid had we ever been separated. Even when Coal took over my body, my Rain was always there for me. The thought that she could ever love someone more than me was heart crushing.

Then I heard about the chunin exams that were coming up soon. I knew that the best thing for Rain would be to get to the Leaf Village, since the closer she was to Shriek, the smaller the tension on her body and chakra was. And maybe seeing all of her friends happy and healthy would put her mind at ease.

But I had a feeling that if she went back, she would never leave. The strain it would put on her mind would be tremendous. I couldn't even imagine the consequences of her leaving her friends a second time, even if they still thought she was dead. The more selfish part of me didn't want her to return. I wanted Rain for myself. She was my friend and no one would take her away from me. Despite that, part of me, the major part, wanted her to be herself again. She was always taking care of me, even though I am older by five whole days. Now it was my turn to be the big brother. Rain needed what was best for her, and if that meant giving her up to the Leaf Village, then I would.

After a few weeks of deliberation with myself, I came to that conclusion. It was only three weeks until the final rounds, so I had to hurry since it would take almost that amount of time to get there. We were in the land of Lightning since it was the closest climate to our original home. Neither of us wanted to return to Dragon Mountain.

I approached Rain right before I went to bed. She was sitting on a rock by the river we had camped by, staring at a little photo strip of her and Shikamaru. When she heard me approaching, she tried to hide the little memento. "Rain, I know what that is. You don't have to hide it. I noticed it two days after we set off." I said, taking a seat next to her. She just shrugged and pulled it out again. I may have said I had seen it before, but not in detail. There were ten pictures of Rain: my Rain. Not the person she had become. She looked so happy in those pictures. But when I looked at the real thing, my heart ached. Her face was filled with a devastating sadness that nothing seemed to be able to ease, let alone erase.

"You miss him a lot." I stated. She nodded, turning away from me. Trying to get a closer look at her, I looked over her shoulder. A single teardrop fell from her face onto one of the photographs. With a look of surprise, she touched her cheek and looked at the wet residue that was left on her fingers. That was when I knew that my biggest fear was real. Gently, I wrapped my arms around my friend and pulled her close. Rain continued to stare at her hand.

"It is okay to cry, Rain." I whispered, and she shook her head. "Why not?" I asked.

I heard her mumble, "I shouldn't really care. All of my life my only real friend in this world was you, Ryu. Then I got some more friends. Now that they think that I am dead and things are back to normal, I should be okay."

I shook my head vigorously. "Rain, it is normal for people to get attached. And it is okay for you to cry. You don't have to be so strong all the time. I think that even I have cried more than you have."

She knew that that was the truth because she had been there when I had cried. When Coal possessed me, she was there when I cried because no one would talk to me. Rain was there to hold my hand when I broke my leg in three places during a training session. And all the other times that I had gotten myself seriously injured, she was there to comfort me. After I killed my parents in a mad rampage, she was there to tell me it wasn't my fault. And when I woke in the middle of the night with nightmares, Rain would somehow know about them and rush over to my empty house to watch over me as I fell back to sleep.

Slowly, very slowly, the tears that had been held in her eyes ever since we had left the village began to fall. I gently took the pictures out of her hands before she crushed them in her effort to stop the tears. But once she started to cry, she couldn't stop. At first she was quiet, not making a sound. As the flow grew, I heard her sob something. Rain then turned towards me suddenly and hugged me back in an iron grip. She cried and cried until I thought that there were no tears left, blood sliding down her cheeks instead. I cooed words of comfort to her and stroked her midnight black hair as she did for me when I was sad.

As she began to stop, I took my chance. "Rain, you know that I care about you more than anything in the world, right?"

She nodded, still gripping my shirt.

"And you know that I wouldn't do anything that I thought wasn't good for you?"

Rain nodded again.

"Then could you promise me something?"

Same response.

"Will you come to the chunin exams with me?" I had been planning on using the fact that she didn't know where it was being held to trick her into going. But the look on her face told me that she knew it was in Konoha.

"Ryu… How could you even think of asking me to go back there?" Rain asked, looking up at me with questioning eyes.

Whoops, busted. "I don't want you to strain yourself so much, since I can't convince you to let go of Shriek." I didn't say that it was my hope that she would lose her will to stay away and reveal what happened to her friends. I wanted her to stay there and be happy; Rain wasn't the kind of person who could live the rest of her life as a nomad with no real home.

She continued to look at me accusingly, but my gaze didn't falter. "Could you please do this for me, Rain? I know you have done so much for me already, but it kills me to watch you in pain." Rain looked like she was about to argue, but I cut her off. "Ever since we left five months ago, you have lost so much weight. You barely eat, and when you do it is just junk food with no nutrition. You used to be able to bench press 10 times what a normal person could, and now, on a good day, you can lift your own body weight. If you don't want to do this for yourself, do this for me. I can't stand to see you like this Rain…"

I had played the best card in my deck of tricks: guilt trip. Ever since we were little kids, I had been able to play that on her and win every time. It even beat out the puppy dog eyes. And I knew that she was probably thinking she owed me for something, like coming out with her on this little adventure or even just letting her cry in my arms. That was just the way Rain is.

"Fine…" she trailed off as she pried my arms from around her overly warm body. "But I'm doing this because I am sure that you will drag me there anyway if I refused." I didn't say anything to defend myself. It had been my backup plan. Even a genin could have taken her out in the state she was in.

Rain reached up and took the pictures from the secret pocket in my cloak. Well, not so secret to her. "And I'll have this back, thank you very much." For a split second, I saw my Rain again before the sad shadow of her former self came back.

She then crawled into her sleeping bag and fell into a restless slumber. Knowing that there wasn't very much else I could do, I went into my own sleeping bag and watched her shift around until I fell asleep myself.

~Lori's POV~

Guess what I went and did? I promised Ryu to go to the chunin exams in Konoha! I am the biggest idiot in the history of the universe. Some nights I don't even want to fall asleep so that I don't feel the pain of memories with my Leaf Village friends going through my mind. And I agreed to go and see them! God would strike me down for my stupidity if he were a good person but he isn't. He should have not given me a conscience so I wouldn't care about keeping promises.

But no matter how much I try to deny it, I am glad that I am going. I can see all of their faces again. And from what Shriek has 'told' me in her dream visits, Shikamaru has made it into the finals. So has Sasuke, Naruto, Temari, Kankuro, Gaara, Neji, and some bug dude named Shino Aburame. They haven't announced who is going up against who, but I have a pretty bad feeling about Shika's chances of winning. But I haven't ever seen him fight, so I might just be being to harsh on the lazy little genius.

Which leads up to Shika.

I couldn't believe it. One minute I am sitting by a river looking at the photos of Shika and me, and then the next I'm crying in Ryu's arms. After my parents had died, and when I had believed that Ryu was dead too, I did cry. I'm not heartless. But these tears were different.

Before, I was so numb to what I was doing that the whole time I was on the hunt for their killers, I didn't even notice that the tears flowed down my face. I really don't even remember my killing spree. Only after I had completely annihilated those monsters did I actually sit down and cry purposely. They were dead. Why wouldn't I cry?

Shika was alive and well, however. I had made sure to ask Shriek to comment on his everyday life. Even with these facts, I still ended up crying as if he had died. It's not like he and I had been friends since childhood, like Ryu and I. For God's sake, I only knew the guy for 6 or 7 months! It was the fact that Shriek hadn't heard him laugh since I left that hurt. That he never smiled. That he woke up screaming in the middle of the night because of a bad dream. But what seemed to worry me the most was that he hadn't played Shogi. It was his favorite game in the world and his favorite pastime besides watching the clouds and sleeping. And that meant that he hadn't used the glass shogi board I had given him for his 15 birthday. It rather pissed me off.

That was what worried me about Shikamaru. But then I thought it over a little bit after my little crying session with Ryu. I was a selfish person. I wanted to be there make him laugh and smile. I wanted to chase away the nightmares haunting his dreams. And I wanted to get the crap beaten out of me in a game of shogi on the new glass board.

So yeah. This bites. Hard.

I don't know if I can control myself if I see him. But I trust that Ryu will stop me from doing anything stupid.

Hopefully.


	20. Chapter 20

~Lori's POV~

"We're almost there." Ryu commented as we walked slowly through the border of trees that surrounded the Leaf Village. I recognized every rock that I saw, every small pot hole I stepped over, pulling their placements from my memory bank. The two of us even passed through the small clearing where I had first met Shikamaru and his team.

I cringed slightly at the thought of going back to the one place I should never return. Yet, I really wasn't. Rain Shiara and her cousin, Ryuzaki Hibachi, were going to the chunin exams; nothing more, nothing less. Lorraine Arashi was still dead and gone.

The closer we got to the village, the tenser I became. _What if one of the ninja knows that I have a guise over me? What if one of them actually recognizes me? No, calm down. Yeah. Nothing to worry about here. No sir-ee. Just act natural._ My breathing still didn't steady.

When we arrived at the gate, the same two guards were standing there, asking for passports. Ryu flashed a bright grin at them, handing over his required (and fake) documents. The one with the scar on his face scanned it over quickly and passed it back. I took a hesitant step forward, feeling stiff as a board, and automatically thrusted the small blue book at him. Despite my nervousness, they didn't sense anything off. "Please enjoy your stay," the ninja called as Ryu and I walked away.

It was strange walking through the town I used to live in and passing people I knew. Resisting the urge to wave and call out their names was hard. Here, I was a stranger. Just an old ninja coming to see the chunin exams. Nothing special about that._ Oh look, there is my apartment building. I wonder if anyone has moved into my rooms yet._ I ignored my curiosity and moved on.

This was an important occasion, so Ryu and I couldn't wear our travel worn clothes. Instead, we stopped by a shop I used to go to and picked something up. Instead of going for Lorraine's comfort zone, I had to do something different for Rain. It was a dark grey kimono with a light, smoky looking blue obi. The borders were outlined in the same color, with matching lotuses crawling a few inches up from the bottom. Luckily for me, this store had specialized in clothes for ninjas, so I could easily move around in it. Bad thing was that I had to cover the sheath of the Fang in dusty brown leather and wear him across my back in case someone recognized it. Namely Kyo, if I ran into him.

Ryu got off a little easier. He just switched from his beaten up old cloak to a new, almost identical one. So he looked a little more different, a black t-shirt with fishnet sleeves replaced his normal muscle shirt. I held in the laughter about Ryu wearing fishnets. It might not be the conventional way, but still.

A few moments after we set off for the arena, we saw Sakura and Naruto rushing off. "Idiots…" I mumbled to myself. Then I saw the huge coliseum looming off into the distance. One thought went through my mind. _Shikamaru! _ I raced through the security checkpoint with Ryu close on my heels.

The stands were already filled to the brim with over ten thousand people. It was a controlled chaos; people argued over seats and dashed off to get snacks or go the restroom before the event began. Luckily for us, we got relatively good seats. For ninjas, that is. No normal person in their right minds would take the front row seats. Only trained ninja who felt confident enough that they could dodge any flying debris and other repercussions of the battle ever sat so close. The danger was well worth it. I had an awesome view of the pavilion where the ninja who were getting ready for battle waited.

That was when I spotted him. Shikamaru was on the pavilion with everyone else who was competing. He didn't look extremely excited about being there, but he wasn't fighting to leave. Like everything else in the village, he hadn't changed much from what I could see. With some of the little chakra I had left, I enhanced my vision for a closer look. Shika's eyes had bags under them and his eyebrows seemed permanently furrowed, his mouth in a tight line. I had to cut off the flow of energy and undo the jutsu quickly. Even though I was much closer to Shriek, it would take more than a few hours to regain my full strength.

_God Shika! I missed you so much. _Every cell in my body was telling me to run up there and hug the shit out of him. But Ryu seemed to see the look on my face, and clasped my arm in his iron grasp. It wasn't really my dark haired Ryu, but the red head kid with chocolate brown eyes that had become Rain Shiara's travel companion. I looked at the long grey braid that hung over my left shoulder. _Why did I decide that I had to look old?_

My eyes wandered back to the balcony and saw Gaara with that ever-blank expression across his face. I liked to think of it as a hollow look. You could always fill it up if you really wanted to. My heart panged. If I hadn't gone off like an idiot, I could have stayed and been Gaara's friend. All of the progress I had made to fill his heart up with happiness undone in my absence which pissed me off. I had specifically told his siblings to be nicer and more understanding. That didn't seem to be working. Temari and Kankuro seemed even more scared of him than usual.

Ryu pulled me from my musings and said, "I really can't thank you enough for this dog tag. It is really great." Even though I was kind of out of it a lot of the time, I still remembered my sort of adoptive brother's 15th birthday. I had put the few skills Kyo had taught me to heat the metal of a dog tag necklace so I could carve what I wanted to into it. I read the words 'Consanim'ara monsen tomuri resa' that I had chosen to write on it in the ancient form of Dragon. The swirling letters danced across the dark metal elegantly due to my extended practice. I'd spent hours agonizing over every curve and line, trying to make it perfect.

Of course, I would never tell him that much. "Hey, it was nothing. If you keep saying that, I will seriously damage you." Ryu shuddered, but I knew it was forced.

Someone with a booming voice, enhanced by a jutsu, tried to hush the crowd. The games were beginning.

**Author's note: ****People, this is the time that you go online and watch episodes 60-66 on the Naruto section. Not Naruto Shippuden, but Naruto. Yes, I am a lazy little bitch. But I don't care. If you don't want to watch all of them, then just watch number 64. That is the one with Shikamaru. If you don't want to watch any of them, or already have, I honestly couldn't care less.** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Lori's POV at Shika's battle~

When it was finally Shikamaru's turn for the fight, it seemed that he was quite unwilling to go. After a moment's argument, Naruto unceremoniously pushed him off the pavilion. He landed with a dull thump and a cloud of dust. Temari made a showy entrance of gliding down on her fan._ Psh, she is such a… mean bum faced monkey. _ I complained lightly in my head.

I wanted to scream at all of the people who were throwing trash at Shika. Temari had no freaking patience, so she just attacked him before the proctor announced that the battle began. The indent in the ground that she made with her giant fan frightened me a bit, but Shika was good enough to dodge it, being a little flashy himself. Of course, this pissed Temari off. The battle continued, and once Shikamaru used his ever-familiar hand sign, I knew that she was finished.

Ryu murmured to me, "Hey, I think the hot chick is going to beat Mr. Lazy there." I laughed at him calling Temari a 'hot chick' because I knew that he would probably change his mind if he ever talked to her. My brother mumbled something obscure under his breath before turning his attention back to the fight.

Finally, he caught her in his Shadow Imitation jutsu. _God, her face is priceless._ They walked towards each other and something hit me. "Oh, don't do it Shika…" I said, and Ryu gave me a puzzled look. "Damn it, dude, you are such an idiot. Don't do it!" I yelled as I stood up, and everyone around me gave me the same look.

Shika raised his hand and announced, "I quit." The people who had been looking at me funny suddenly started yelling too, calling him every name under the sun.

For just one instant, I saw Shikamaru look at me. Not in just my general direction, but straight at me. Hurriedly, I sat back down. Ryu had to me that I was still in my disguise, so there was no way that he could have recognized me. "Hey, I told you that the hot chick would win." He nudged me with his elbow.

"I just want you to go and talk to her for like, two minutes, and see if you like her then, Mr. Smartass."

"You knew her too?" Ryu asked, and I nodded.

"She is one of the Sand Siblings, Gaara's older sister. Temari is such a…a…"

He chuckled at my loss for words. "Bitch?"

"Stronger word than that, but close enough. I wanted to beat the shit out of her for being so mean to poor little Gaara-kun."

"Gaara-kun?" Ryu mumbled.

I sighed at the memory. "Ryu, Gaara is a lot like you. He has a demon inside of him too. But he hasn't been able to sleep in years because of it. Coal likes to be able to function, so he lets you sleep. And Gaara didn't have any friends until I came along. Even his own family is afraid of him."

My buddy huffed but gave me a one armed hug. "You are too nice for your own good, Rain. You adopt people like others adopt pets."

"Well then, my pet, pass me over my caramels." He smiled, but I could tell he didn't find it very amusing. I popped one of the little bits of sugar into my mouth and continued to watch the other matches. It was hard to decide whom to route for in Gaara and Sasuke's match, but I didn't really need to. Suddenly, feathers started to fall out of the sky. People around us dropped to the floor, dead asleep.

Before I became trapped in the illusion, I performed the proper hand sign and whispered, "Release". The weight of sleep disappeared and I saw that Ryu had done the same. Ninja from the Hidden Sand popped out everywhere, attacking the few who had been released from the genjutsu. Ryu pulled out the White Lily, his huge broad sword, right away. I took Fang out of his sheath right as a cloaked ninja struck at me. My years of training kicked in, my arm automatically blocking the kunais and counterattacked the enemy.

I saw Kakashi and Guy Lee battling it out on in the stands beside us. Ryu and I both jumped over to them just in time for me to block an attack aimed at Sakura. Ryu's White Lily crushed his enemy quickly, so we stood back to back, waiting for a move. Remembering that I did not know them, I inquired almost imperiously, "What the hell is going on here, Leaf Shinobi?"

Guy Lee responded, "Well, pretty lady, it seems like the Sand Village has put on a full scale attack against us. And since most of our ninja are guarding the surrounding area, we have to stay here and defend these people."

"I see. At least we get to have some fun today too, right cousin?" Ryu smirked as he took out another ninja.

A streak of silver popped up behind me. Kakashi's voice was curious as I threw a kunai above his head at an idiot who tried attack from that obvious angle, "Miss, where are you and your companion from?"

"Why do you ask?" I said, afraid my cover might have been blown.

"You two have very distinctive accents, like the one a friend of ours used to have."

"Yeah," Sakura sighed sadly, "You guys both sound like Lorraine."

I flinched at that, giving one of the ninja enough time to throw a paper bomb at me. With that little jolt, my disguise faltered slightly out of existence before covering me up again. Luckily, no one seemed to notice, so I pulled out the Wing. Since she stored extra chakra, I pulled some out of her to give me a boost.

Before I could use it, a thought brushed through my conscience. _Shikamaru is in danger, Master._ I stopped right in the middle of fighting a blonde chick with a sword. She took the chance to attack me and learned to regret it. Without a thought, I moved an inch to the side, avoiding her strike. Then I chopped off her head. The stream of blood hit everyone around me. The bright crimson memory almost made me puke, but I restrained myself. _I seem to be doing that a lot today._

I walked slowly up to Guy Lee and gutted the man he was fighting. "Where is Shikamaru?" I asked as I pulled Guy up by his collar with one hand.

"What…Shikamaru Nara?"

"Yes. Where the hell is Shika?" I shrieked, shaking him like a terrier shakes a rat.

"I don't know…Look out!" But I didn't need the warning. I slashed the stupid little bastard getting ready to kill me. Then I dropped Guy and turned to Ryu who was clashing with three opponents.

"I'm going…"

As I took off towards the sound of Shriek's subconscious pull, I heard Ryu yell, "Rain, be careful!"

I thought I heard Sakura say, "Did she just say what I think she did?", before I sent chakra to my feet and sped away.

Chaos was erupting all over the village. In the distance, I saw a three headed snake breaking down the wall surrounding it. My mind could hear Shriek fighting against an unknown enemy so I increased my speed. Then I realized that they were in the clearing. Chopping down anyone who stood in my way, I felt Shriek begin to drain my chakra and physical strength.

_No no no! I won't be able to help if you continue to suck the life out of me!_ Right as I neared the edge of the clearing, I felt Shriek being hit by a heavy blow, and her presence suddenly disappeared. I jumped to the ground in front of a very strong looking swordsman, taking my fighting stance.

~Shikamaru's Point of View~

_Damn. Why do I have to die like this? _ I asked myself as the little blue blur that had been defending me against the mountain of a man poofed out of existence. I didn't even really get the chance to see what it was since it was moving so fast. The swordsman came towards me and I tried to back up quickly. _Ugh! I used up all of my chakra against that stupid Temari girl. Now I am going to die like a rat. _Just as the sword swung down, I closed my eyes. Instead of feeling the metal hit my skin, I heard the crash of metal on metal.

I opened my eyes. Standing in front of me was the woman in grey and blue from the stadium; the one who had known I was going to give up the moment that I decided it. She held a very familiar sword that I just couldn't place in my mind correctly. The woman held her own against the person, even though she looked to be in her late 30's. She landed a few good blows on her opponent, but he got her in the back of the leg. Then she pulled out a battle fan and started using that in harmony with her blade. In a split second laze in the battle, she turned and looked at me, which gave the guy enough time to slash her sword arm's shoulder right in the muscled area. That attack would have put most people out of commission, but she countered it by slicing his stomach open with her fan.

As the swordsman's guts spilled across the ground, she began to limp away. I stood up to thank her and help her to the hospital when she turned towards me with a frantic look in her eyes. One second I was up and the next she had tackled me to the ground again. Her image began to flicker. I thought it was because of the rain that began to fall right into my eyes.

My savior sat up abruptly then fell back over onto the ground. A few second later, I saw another person replace her. It was Lori. Her black hair fell around her in waves, almost matching the dark pool of her blood surrounding her. She was crumpled on her side, holding her wounded shoulder in pain.

I was shocked beyond belief. Lori was alive. _No, no, she can't be._ _The swordsman must have killed me. Or I am hallucinating. She can't possibly be alive._ Her moan of agony brought me back to the present. Slowly, I reached down towards her and touched her, to see if she was real. Lori was as warm as ever, but her temperature began to fall rapidly. However, it had clicked in my mind. She was alive.

I pulled her into my arms gently and hugged her close. A hand wrapped itself around my wrist and I looked into her eyes. The dark blue orbs looked at me with the hazy fog of death in them. "No," I whispered coarsely, "I just got you back…You can't die on me now. Please, Lori…Please." The tears falling down my cheeks could have been mistaken for raindrops.

Her lips moved silently. I leaned down closer, so close that I could feel her shallow breath tickling my ear. "I missed you." A wet cough racked her frame, blood spilling from her lips.

"Hang in there Lori. It'll be okay." I said, more to comfort myself than stating a fact.

A weak smile graced her quickly paling lips. "I'm glad I got to see you again Shi…", and her hand fell away limply.

"No…" I breathed, eyes wide in shock and horror. "No!" I screamed at the top of my lungs like a wild animal. It was a scream of raw emotion, of anger and sadness.

I sat there for a few minutes, holding her corpse in my arms. Then I stood up with Lori, carrying her bridle style. _God, she must have lost like, 50 pounds! _As I walked towards the village like a zombie, I pondered what she had been doing while she was gone. And more importantly, what had compelled her to leave.

The whole time, I cried. It didn't make sense. I had thought I had already cried all of the tears over her death. But when she was back in my life for just a few blissful seconds, it broke down the barrier between me and my grief.

Looking down at her again, I saw something. Her chest had moved. I was hallucinating again. A moment later, it rose. I brought my ear to her mouth and felt a tiny breeze. It was like a butterfly's wings had touched my cheek. But it was enough.

I broke into a run. It was the fastest I had ever gone before. The trees seemed to rush by me at incredible speeds. All I could think was, "Please hang on, please hang on Lori!" Finally, we made it to the hospital. It was packed with the injured of the battle that had ended just moments before. I pushed through the double doors and yelled, "Please, help my friend!"

The nurses were very busy, and had probably heard pleas like that come from people before. But one lady turned around and saw the condition Lori was in, and immediately showed me into the intensive care unit. Many people I knew were in there, including Naruto, Sasuke and Gaara. I didn't wonder why they were treating one of the enemy for long.

The nurse ordered me to put her on the bed. Without giving me warning, the woman took off the kimono Lori was wearing. I turned around in embarrassment, but did not leave the room until a different nurse ushered me out. I sat outside her room, waiting for some news, when I saw Sakura come up to me. "Who are you waiting for, Shikamaru-san?"

"Lori…" I replied quietly. She gave me a skeptical look, so I pointed towards the window of her room. Sakura opened the door and looked inside.

With a gasp, she turned back towards me and whispered, "Is she… this isn't…" I didn't respond.

She scurried off and brought Kakashi and Guy with her, followed by a red head with brown eyes. "Is it true then?" Kakashi asked, looking at me. I nodded. "We all thought she was dead! How did this happen?"

The red head turned to us and said, "That is something I am going to have to explain later." His image shimmered, and in his place was Ryu.

"How is she?" He asked me, eyes filled with the same fear and dread that I felt coursing through my veins. "Not good." Was all I could get myself to say. It was hours before the doctor came out to tell us the news. By the look on his face, it wasn't good.

"Hi, I'm Doctor Kurosaki. Ms. Arashi suffered from injuries to her right shoulder and left leg. She lost a lot of blood in the process. Her chakra has also been seriously depleted. If she wakes up, she probably won't be able to do a simple replication jutsu for weeks."

I had heard what he had said. "What do you mean, 'if she wakes up'?"

He sighed, and Ryu and I drew closer to him. "She was also struck by some poisoned senbon needles." _That was what she freaked out about at the last second. She must have seen them coming and ran in front of me to block it…_ "The poison causes the person to be knocked unconscious and paralyzes them for a few hours when in small doses. But these needles were coated with such a heavily mixed poison that she will be out for days, maybe even weeks."

Ryu asked hoarsely, "What are her chances of waking up?"

"Five to ten percent."

Lori's friend just fell back into the chair, slumping down. I was shocked too. Those odds were not in her favor. "Are we allowed to see her?" I asked quietly.

"Are you sure you want to? It is hard to take in." Both Ryu and I nodded, so he ushered us into the tiny room.

Lori was on the bed in only a hospital gown. The nurses had tied her hair back so it wasn't in the way of all of the tubes that she was connected to. There were tubes down her throat and connected to her chest. In addition, there were wires on her temples and on her chest too. I heard the doctor say, "The paralysis is so severe that we were afraid that her heart and lungs would stop working. So those machines are just a precaution. The wires attached to her temple are to study her brain waves. Everything else is for monitoring her heart rate and such."

"Can we touch her?" Ryu asked tentatively.

The doctor's gaze was stern. "Be very careful. If any of her wounds are reopened, the shock will definitely cause her heart and lungs to fail." Then he left. I sat in a chair to her left, my back facing the door. Ryu sat on her right, his back facing the window. We just looked at Lori blankly.

After a few hours of silence, I turned to Ryu and asked the question that had been on my mind since I found out she was still alive. "Why?"


	21. Chapter 21

~Shika's POV~

"Why?" I whispered to Ryu, who was sitting across from me with Lori's motionless body as a partition. For a split second, I gazed down at her pale, fragile form and swallowed back my fear before looking the ninja in the eyes.

Ryu's orbs were hazy with thought and some other emotion I couldn't quite place. "Rain had some people after her: strong and dangerous people that even the two of us might not beat. She didn't want anyone in the Leaf Village get hurt because of her," he explained.

For a moment, the room was completely silent except for the beeping and humming of the many machines. Then I actually comprehended what the guy had said.

My jaw just about hit the floor.

"She thought that we would get hurt?" I hissed. Ryu nodded.

I stood up with a jerk and started pacing back and forth, not able to decide whether to put my hands in my pockets or start tearing at my hair. "Lori has got to be the most stupid, stubborn, selfless person I know. She wouldn't come and ask me for help if her life depended on it, which it did!" I cried, exasperated. "The Leaf Village could take on anyone if we wanted to. Hell, we could kick the collective ass of any village on the continent!"

A loud buzz alarmed me as one of the machines went on the fritz. A nurse came rushing in, only to sigh and replace the filter on the oxygen apparatus. I let out a breath I'd been unknowingly holding. A quick glance at Ryu showed me that he was worried not just about Lori, but about me. His gaze was trained on me like I were a rabid animal. _**Probably because you look like you're about to lose any grip you have on your sanity. All you need is the foam at the mouth.**_

Slowly, steadily, I calmed myself down. "Why would someone be after Lori anyway? She never mentioned anything about it."

A pained look spread across the brunette's face as he looked down and brushed some hair out of her eyes. "That is something that she will have to tell you herself. No matter how much I want to, I can't tell you about Rain's…demons, you might say."

If I had been any other guy, I might have tried to shake it out of him instead of sitting back down. Frankly, I almost did. But that tiny thread of sanity I did have told me it wouldn't help. Not now.

"Okay then," I said, trying to change the subject to lighter happenings, "Everyone else calls her Lori and she says that is her nickname, too. Why do you call her Rain?"

The young man relaxed back into his chair and smiled sadly. "That's a funny story, actually. When we were younger, I called her Lori like everyone else. But then this really weird guy came to our village and his name was Laury. Rain hated the pervert so much that she went around and told everyone that she didn't want to even share a name with the man. No one listened to her, of course. They all thought that it was just one of those fazes all kids go through."

"But Rain was my best friend, so I went with her wishes; I thought that Lorraine was too long to say though. So I started to call her Rain instead and the name stuck. I don't even think she remembers why I call her that herself. Maybe I'll tell her when she wakes up." For a second, I could have sworn tears welled up in his eyes before he looked away.

It made sense. Her best friend from childhood and her fellow trainee for Dragon Keeper would have amusing and irrelevant stories from their past. Then it clicked. "Do you understand Ancient Dragon?" I asked, swiftly pulling out the letter that I always had from the secret pocket.

"Yeah…Why do you ask?" I unfolded the letter and pointed to the bottom section.

My stomach flip-flopped for some reason I probably would never find out. "Can you translate this for me? Kyo said that he didn't know what it said."

He took the letter from me gingerly as if it were a piece of glass and examined the faded script. A look of shock crossed his face, then something I couldn't understand. "_She'ara monsen tomuri resa_ is a pretty simple letter ending in our village. It is nothing special."

I sat there for a moment, taking in what he had said. "What does it translate into completely?" I asked. My heart leaped up into my throat, waiting for the understanding that his words would bring me. For some reason, those ten syllables had been eating away at me the moment I laid eyes on them, almost as if I were entranced by some spell.

"It is a farewell between…good friends." Ryu replied almost hesitantly. Before I could interrogate him about his behavior, Sakura walked in.

Her appearance reminded me that there was something I should probably do. But I couldn't leave Lori's side. Not just yet. So I asked the pinkette to do me the simple favor. She ran off before I could blink.

Then I took the sleeping girl's hand in both of mine and rested my chin on our intertwined fingers.

~Gaara's POV~

During one of my many lessons in morals, ethics and life from Lorraine, she talked to me about retribution. "When you fight for someone else, it shouldn't be for revenge, but to protect him or her. By the time you need revenge, it means you couldn't protect them in the first place," she had said. Her voice had been bitter but resonated strongly in my mind. The kunoichi had spoken of it like she had experienced the feelings herself.

I had chewed over it many times afterwards. At first, it occurred to me that I would never feel the need to get revenge against someone. Though I supposed that maybe, possibly, she was right.

But after Lorraine had died, the notion left my head. The sudden smoldering sensation in my chest left me gasping for breath whenever I thought of the people who were to blame. It became so hot sometimes that it burned like cold fire, erasing any doubts about what I was going to do.

I would fight to avenge Lorraine's death. Those stupid Leaf Village shinobi should have protected her. But they didn't. So they needed punishment.

If there is anything I can do, it is cause some pain.

My fight with Naruto, the Uchiha and their little pink haired teammate brought it back to the forefront of my thoughts. I wasn't too fond of that, to say the least. Lorraine's words echoed in my ears sadly, pounding away at the walls between me and the rest of the world.

When I was finally let out of the intensive care unit the day after the battle, I ran into the pink girl I attacked while I was wandering the halls. Her name was easy enough to remember: Sakura. She seemed slightly apprehensive of me, but definitely not afraid.

That silly voice in my head that had strangely begun to sound like Lorraine reminded me of the conscience she had helped develop. "I'm sorry for hurting you." I murmured as she gave me the evil eye.

With that, her face softened and she asked, "You and Lori were still friends after our mission, right?" I nodded. Sakura seemed to think for a moment before grabbing me by the elbow and tugging me along back towards the ICU. Her touch should have sent sand flying in all directions, but my chakra was so depleted any my will was so shattered that even Shukaku didn't bother.

Sakura knocked on a door and I heard a muffled, "Come in." We did so and I almost passed out with what I saw. Lorraine was hooked up to half a dozen machines by wires and tubes, but she was alive.

Cautiously, I stepped towards her. The stronger of the boys sitting by her stood up and blocked her protectively. "Who are you?" He eyed me suspiciously before a light bulb lit in his head. The image would have been rather amusing if I had a better sense of humor. "Wait, I know you. You're that Sand guy that Rain is friends with." I nodded but thought, _Who the hell is Rain? I thought we were talking about Lorraine._

Lorraine looked bad. Even under the loose hospital gown, I could tell that she had lost some weight. There were bandages wrapped around her shoulder and leg. The lazy boy who I remembered had given me the letter from her sat by Lorraine's bedside with his hands wrapped around hers, his eyes staring at her face, begging her to wake up.

Anger then bubbled up in me. "Who did this to her?"

The strong one said, "She already killed them. No need for revenge, Gaara. By the way, I am Ryuuga Hibachi. Rain…I mean Lorraine told me about you."

"Oh, she did? How wonderful." I drawled, letting the sarcasm slip into my voice.

A tiny smile flitted across Ryuuga's face, but disappeared. "I can understand why Rain took a liking to you."

As he said that, I could hear Shukaku speaking to me in my mind. I could never understand how a powerful demon sounded like a hick from Texas. _**Woah there partner! This guy has a powerful little snaky in that body of his. Wonder where that came from. **__Snaky? __**You folk around here call them dragons. Just over grown, egotistical lizards, if you ask me.**_

"Are you that boy that Lorraine said had a dragon inside of him?" I asked bluntly. He flinched, but nodded. _Hmm…This is one of Lorraine's friends. Interesting._

"It seems like she was talking about me too. That figures." He pulled me aside and onto the tiny fire escape outside the window. Why there would be a fire escape in the ICU, I would never know.

Then he and told me how Lorraine had left to protect everyone in her new village and all of her friends. "If anyone needs protection, it is her." I said. Ryu nodded and a look of understanding crossed between us. We may not be friends ourselves, but our need to protect Lorraine came first. I got a cryptic answer on why someone would be chasing her from the tall brunette.

Temari busted through the door like one of the whirlwinds she manipulated yelling, "Gaara, what the hell did you think you were doing, checking yourself out from the ICU without…" And then she saw Lorraine.

Temari had never been close friends with her, from what I know, but her hand still covered her mouth, trying to cover the gasp of shock that escaped her lips. Kankuro came in after her with a similar reaction.

"How in the world…I thought she was…" Kankuro stuttered.

"Yeah, so did we." Shikamaru managed to croak.

It was the first time my attention really focused on the guy. He looked horrible, even to me. There were dark circles under his eyes and he was as pale as a ghost. There was an awkward moment of silence before Ryu beckoned to my siblings. "Come on," he faked with enthusiasm, "Let's go down to the cafeteria and get some nasty hospital food. I'll explain what happened when we get there."

When they left, the lazy boy didn't even seem to notice. His focus was on Lorraine's face. "You should go and get some food yourself. And some sleep." I said, trying to be nice. It didn't come out too well.

He continued to sit there as still as she was. "If she wakes up, you'll be the first to know. I won't leave her for a second until you get back." Something about what I had said or how I had said it seemed to break through his trance. Shikamaru nodded and said something about going back to his place to get some new cloths. The ones he was wearing were coated in dried blood and dirt.

Alone, I took his seat by Lorraine. After years of just having to sit for 8 hours when others were sleeping, I let myself back into the familiar rhythm of flowing through memories. Instead of the hellish ones of my childhood, I remembered when Lorraine first came to the Sand Village. Somehow, she had won me over, and convinced me to let her into my personal bubble. That crazy girl had actually hugged me. Me, Gaara of the Desert, the mass murdering psychopath.

Then I recalled how she had helped me fall into the peacefully black realm of sleep. Sleep that was actually restful. Sleep without nightmares.

An unfamiliar feeling crept up when I remembered a tear falling down her face as she let me rest again. It was a strange and painful feeling that I still had not placed. Her voice whispered through my mind. T_here are some times that no matter what you do, you can't do anything to help your friends. That is one of the bad things to having close bonds with people. It hurts when you can't help. _At least I understood that part now.

It continued like that for about 45 minutes before a wet but clean Shikamaru came in. A look of shock went across his face, and I instantly turned to Lorraine. My sand had taken on a mind of its own and was floating around her. It wasn't in a threatening way, for once. The sand swayed with a gentle rhythm, looking like tiny wisps of a cloud in the sky. I pulled the sand away and stood up, moving to a couch underneath the window.

Temari, Kankuro and Ryu came in a moment later. Ryu sat on a stool by her bed. Temari and Kankuro gave each other a strange look before asking, "Can we sit beside you?" I was surprised. Never before had they ever done anything that would put them close to me.

Then I saw Ryu smirking at me, and realized that he must have…persuaded them to act more like my siblings. I nodded, and moved over to one side. They sat down, but were going out of their way to sit as far away from me as possible.

Suddenly, the weight of sleep that had become oh so familiar crept up on me. Ryu somehow sensed it and said, "Don't worry, Gaara, you can sleep here. Temari and Kankuro explained how Rain had let you fall asleep with no intrusions. I think it is because my dragon's aura rubbed off on her slightly, but was enough to keep the Shukaku from wanting to come out and face her. Since the real dragon is here, I think you'll be fine."

_**That damn little punk! I ain't afraid of no little snaky, no I am not. Just let me at 'em right now, I tell you…**_

I fell asleep despite Shukaku's protests.


	22. Chapter 22

~Ryu's POV~

Kyo came three times a day to check up on his little cousin but he never stayed long. I think it was because he didn't want to face the fact that if Rain were to ever have to go on the life support completely, he would be the one to decide to pull the plug. Just the thought of a decision like that could tear anyone apart.

The smithy never brought Kyoshiro with him, since he and Mila didn't want to get the poor kid's hopes up. He still believed that his beloved Aunty Lori was on a mission far away, kicking the ass of every ninja in her way.

If only that were true.

On the fourth day of Rain's coma, I pulled Kyo aside. We were looking through the window to her room from the hallway, dodging frantic nurses and run away patients. Gaara was sitting on the fire escape and Shikamaru was beside my best friend, his head resting on her bedside in the closest thing he had to sleep.

I cut right to the chase. Neither of us were ever ones to draw things out. "Why didn't you tell him what the letter said? He told me you said you didn't understand it."

A look of what I thought was concern crossed his features. "You don't know how much of a wreck that boy was. If I had told him what it meant, I think he might have completely snapped," Kyo explained.

Now that I thought about it, it was true. Losing your best friend was hard enough. But hearing that news afterwards would have been the detonator on his mind's ticking time bomb. The red-head might has well have signed Shikamaru's death warrant.

"How do you feel about it? I mean…" Kyo stuttered, not knowing how to phrase his question.

"What am I supposed to feel?" I responded. "Should I be jealous of Shikamaru, or protective of Rain? All I really care about right now is her recovery. If…When she wakes up, then all I will care for is her happiness." Kyo nodded.

The two of us were silent for a moment. Just as I was about to walk back into the room, he choked out, "I really hate to even think this, but what if she doesn't ever wake up? Should we tell him what she said? The boy deserves to know. Just look at him."

I knew what he meant. Shikamaru rarely left her bedside. The only time we could get him to leave was when some of the nurses came change bandages or when his mom forced him to go home and shower.

Shikamaru barely ate and only pretended to sleep while Gaara or I were in the room. He was silent when people came to visit her, like Ino, Chouji and Naruto. The rest of the time he sat in the tall chair by Rain's undoubtedly uncomfortable bedside and silently begged her to wake up with pleading eyes.

I looked down at my watch and groaned, "Well, it is my shift now. See if you can get Shikamaru out of this damn place."

Kyo, by either a threat or a bribe, convinced the boy to come and baby-sit Kyoshiro for him. A few minutes after they left left, Temari and Kankuro came by for a visit.

Each time they came over, their fear of Gaara and I lessened slightly. Today I actually managed to sit by Temari on the couch without her getting up. She still fidgeted and twitched, but I'm not a miracle worker here. It is my goal to get the girl to understand that anyone who is possessed isn't an evil monster.

I think the only reason I did this was to keep my mind off the impending thought that lurked in the back of my head.

What if Rain never wakes up?

~Shikamaru's POV~

It had been a three days since I had heard Ryu and Kyo talking to each other outside of the room. _What the hell was Kyo doing lying to me? And I wouldn't have snapped! I could have taken whatever he had to give. Ugh, now that is going to bug me. Since it seems that neither of them is going to tell me the truth, I'll just have to wait until Lori wakes up._

Now, I'm not some crazy optimistic person who 'just knows' that Lori will wake up. Anyone with that much faith in anything or anyone isn't human. But at this point, I was willing to believe in some imaginary 'god' to wake up Lori.

I hoped with every fiber of my being that she would have the strength to break through this coma. My heart ached when I looked at her, pale and thin, lying on that hospital bed, wrapped in bandages and covered in wires and tubes.

As I had been for the last week, I was sitting by Lori's bedside. The hours of worry and impatience were taking their toll on me. Even my dad was giving me lectures about how I should take more care of myself, and he is as uncaring as I am. To placate the impending crowd of naggers, I rushed home to grab some clothes and take a shower really quickly while Gaara was on his shift.

The Sand shinobi freaked me out a little bit with the way his stare looked so evil and crazy. But whenever you snuck in on him when he was watching Lori, his sand shifted around her protectively and his face softened up. If only for a moment.

I was home and back in about half an hour, since it didn't take too long to get there from the hospital. Mom had laid out a set of clothes for me in my bathroom beside a plate of her attempt at Lori's rice cakes. I tossed them in the bin without a second glance.

When I got back, Gaara looked at me and shook his head, signaling that she had not awoken when I was gone. So I sat down on the couch by the window, being polite enough for once to not force the boy out of the chair.

My damn chair.

About two hours later, Gaara started to nod off. I knew that he hadn't slept in years before now, but he had still gotten a lot of rest while he was here. Of course, this weirdo was a night owl, so he being awake in the day didn't help his mood.

Ryu came in with a slightly less awkward Temari and Kankuro. Seeing that their little brother was asleep, they both did something they had not ever done before. I stood as Kankuro picked up Gaara and carried him over to the couch I had been occupying. He set the red head down gently against the armrest and Temari put a blanket over him.

After the deed was done, a look of shock crossed their features. It was as if their sibling instincts had kicked in for a moment, but were stomped back down by their fear of him.

A very smug and satisfied looking Ryu sat down on the recliner chair and I resumed my post on my own wooden copy. The shocked siblings sat down on the couch carefully beside Gaara. I saw him open one of his eyes tentatively before shutting it and continuing with his nap.

Ryu seemed to be contemplating whether to follow suit. Then he picked up Lori's Wing and Fang, signaling to me that he was to take a rest. He had gotten them from the field on the first day.

Ryu had a strange way of showing he missed Lori. Instead of looking worried all the time and constantly watching her, he carried around both of her weapons. Even when he slept, the Wing was on his belt and the Fang was resting against his shoulder. They both contained huge amounts of her chakra, so it was as if she was with him constantly.

If I weren't so out of it, I would have made some sarcastic comment about how he seemed to be hugging a piece of metal. However, it helped him deal with the worries, so I couldn't blame him. I wished I had some sort of coping mechanism like that.

It was around midnight before the Temari and Kankuro left, heading to their hotel room. They may have been nicer than before, but they still didn't like Lori enough to sit in the hospital all night to wait for her to wake up. Gaara went out onto the fire escape and did whatever he does when he is out there. Ryu went with the other two Subakus, saying that he wanted a little bit of fresh air. It was probably just to rub in their faces that it wasn't too hard to treat their little brother nicer. I mean, the kid was a demon, but he was still just a very emotionally scarred 12 year old.

I looked at Lori again and saw the husk of her former self: no smile, no laughter, not even any anger. Just thoughtless, black sleep occupied her mind and features.

My head started to bob back and forth as it normally does when I am too sleepy to stay awake. _Damn it Shikamaru, stay awake! What if she wakes up and you are fast asleep? _

_**It isn't as if you are falling asleep at a resort. You are right at her bedside. Don't worry about it. I highly doubt that the one time you sleep, she will wake up.**_

_You are right. A few hours rest won't kill…_

And I was out like a lamp for the first time in days.


	23. Chapter 23

~In the Blackness~

_What? _

_Where am I?_

_Why is it so dark? _

_Why can't I feel anything?_

_Why won't I move?_

That was how it was for an eternity.

There was no way to measure time in the abyss. A single moment could have been a year, a day, a second. It didn't matter. The dark was almost suffocating me.

But it was not like I would notice death.

How do you notice something when all of your senses are offline? I could have been dead at that moment without even knowing it. _Damn, I hope this isn't heaven. I wasn't expecting rainbows and butterflies, but at least let it be a little better than this. Or maybe this is supposed to be hell…_

After what seemed like forever and a day of contemplating what the afterlife should be like, I noticed something.

I could feel my fingertips.

I might not have noticed it since I had long given up on trying moving them but for the fact that something brushed up against them unexpectedly. A lifetime later, I could feel the tips of my toes. Then up to the knuckles. Then the entire digits. That was how it went for a long time. Little by little, I could start feeling again.

As I got those sensations back, my clouded mind began to un-fog itself. The process was so excruciatingly slow that I wanted to scream, but I couldn't. It hadn't advanced that far up yet.

When I could feel my hands completely, I felt someone holding my left one with theirs in a protective yet comforting way. Sometimes I would feel a light breeze tickling my fingers as they held it.

With the hand, there also came a presence that I could not quite pin point or explain. _I must be going crazy._ I thought. _Someone wouldn't sit here and hold my hand for this long. But my sense of time is screwed up pretty bad. Wait, where am I? Why is someone holding my hand? God, I really think I am dead._

And so it continued.

On the rare occasions that the hand wasn't there, something like a fine mist enveloped it (and I assumed my whole body). It was soothing and cold against my numb skin somehow, like a beam of moonlight that shone down onto my useless shell of an existence.

With an equal amount of time spent with me as the mist, there was a similarly soothing but warm presence nearby. It clung to the air and my lungs like wood smoke in a good way. Not the kind that burns your throat and stings your eyes, but that earthy, clean smell after a fire that cleanses the forest so that things might grow again.

My mind wasn't working well enough to even begin to identify any of these feelings or presences. I was barely able to understand my own thoughts, as limited as they were.

Every once in a while, the black would close in tighter and I would almost be sucked in by the peaceful allure of it. But every time, one of the three presences were there, pulling me back into the twisted reality I was living.

Finally, after what seemed like a million eternities, I could feel my entire body. My sense of smell came back with it. I noticed that scent of clean death in the air that could only be from the hospital. _Great, I might not be dead, but I am probably dying._ The smells of burning wood, the desert sands, and a grassy summer field came to me, but my mind was still too blurred to place them.

The dark started to fade to grey. Slowly, very slowly, but surely.

I had thought that I had been able to feel my body, but it seemed I hadn't. The farther away the black was, the closer the pain got. It was searing hot and sharp in my right shoulder and left leg. I almost began to beg the dark to come back to me, to relieve the pain, but I noticed that I could breathe easier as it left. The heavy weight on my chest was being lifted.

On my left side there was a strange warmth that came in pulses, like breathing. I still could not get my eyes to open, but I instinctively reached out for the heat.

~Shikamaru's POV~

I was floating around in the nightmare I had had often after Lori's 'death.' It was never the exact same each time but it had similar basic ideas. Lori was always in a field surrounded by many enemies; too many for her to deal with. Then she would do something and blow everyone up, including herself, in a mighty explosion that would always send me wheeling back into consciousness.

Unlike all the other times, she seemed to be able to see me. Lori walked towards me with the same sad smile she wore all day at the fair, the day that she broke my heart and soul into a thousand different pieces. The kunoichi reached out with her left hand and touched my cheek. "Shika…" she whispered. I listened to the voice I never thought I'd hear again, though it was just my imagination.

"Shika…" Her voice was soft and hoarse, as if she were in pain.

"Shikamaru…" She was slightly annoyed now, in that affectionate way of hers that always seemed like a mother scolding her child.

"Shikamaru…"

I realized something. I shouldn't actually be able to feel the warmth of her hand. The dream faded away, but the feeling of her hand on my cheek was still there. Even though I knew that I had probably just jumped off the deep end, I reached up and covered her hand with mine.

"Oh…My…God…" I said, and opened my eyes.

There she was, lying in the hospital bed as she had been for so long. Instead of her eyes closed with an expressionless face, she was looking at me. Lori's almost black eyes that I hadn't seen in so long were only slightly open as if it pained her to even do that.

And her smile. It brought more happiness to me than I thought possible.

"You… still take as long…to wake up…as you ever have…Shika," she whispered coarsely.

I shot up out of my seat, with her hand in both of mine and screamed, "Nurse! Ryu! Gaara! She's awake. Lori's awake!"

~Lori's POV~

I knew it was Shika without even looking through my sleep heavy eyes. The dead giveaway was how long it took to wake him up. What was forever when I had spent a thousand times that long in the darkness? But I could barely hear myself, so why did I expect him to do so?

Finally, after what seemed like ten minutes, he stirred slightly. Not much, but enough for him to notice my hand on his cheek.

I wanted to reach up and cover my ringing ears as Shika yelled something that I couldn't comprehend, it was so loud. In an instant, I was surrounded by many people running around in a flurry of motion. There was more yelling, and the light in the room was so bright I could barely see the streaks of colors blurring my vision.

Eventually it calmed down and I saw the silhouettes of three people hovering over me. I heard someone say, "Lori, can you hear us?" I nodded in reply. They seemed to wait for me to do something, but I could barely see who I was talking to and after saying that small sentence to Shika, my mouth was too dry.

"Too…bright." I managed to croak out and almost immediately someone must have shut the curtains. My vision cleared. Gaara, Ryu, and Shika were the hoverers. All three of them looked anxious, even little Gaara. I tried to comment on why he was here, but all that came out was a squeak.

"God, we are so stupid! Nurse, could you pass me a glass of water? Thanks. Here, Rain. Take a sip of this." Ryu said, lifting my head up and putting the glass to my lips. The moment he did that, I realized just how thirsty I was. I guzzled that glass down, with two more right after it.

I sighed in relief. "Ah, much better." I then took the time to look the three of them over. Gaara looked great compared to the last time I had seen him. The dark circles under his eyes were gone and the normal hateful look to his face seemed to have lessened almost as dramatically. Ryu looked the same as ever, but his expression was one of complete relief and happiness. Then I turned my attention to Shikamaru.

"What the hell…Shit!" I screamed in agony. A blaze of fire burst through my shoulder as I sat up to confront Shika on his appearance. He was paler than usual and all of Gaara's dark circles seemed to be transferred to him. His hair was a mess and his face looked gaunt like he hadn't eaten in weeks.

"Damn it Rain! Are you all right? You aren't supposed to try and sit up." Ryu patronized, catching me on my fast descent back towards the pillow and setting me down easier. I took a second to catch my breath and Shikamaru asked if I could remember anything. I shook my head.

Gaara explained thoroughly but strongly, which was very out of character, "You were injured during the battle after the chunin exams. The swordsman you were up against sliced open your right shoulder and left leg bad before you downed him. But before he died he got you with a poisoned senbon needle. You have been in a coma for a week."

I almost jumped up again to complain about that, but the red head's sand prevented me from doing so. "As I was saying…What the hell happened to you Shika? Have you been fighting Temari all over again or since I have been gone you just went and let yourself go?" He cracked a smile and shrugged his shoulders, a very Shika-esque reply.

"So I have been out for a week. Not so cool… Oh, no. No no no no no no NO! I don't want to have to deal with more doctors." I squirmed as a bunch more nurses and doctors rushed in followed by a very pissed off Kyo.

Before he got off on his rant, the medical professionals pushed all four of the men out of the room. "Sorry, boys, but we need to redress Ms. Arashi's wounds. And you can't be in here for that, now can you?"

I could tell that Kyo was going to try and yell at me through the window but the nurses shut the blinds. _Brilliant. Absolutely bloody freakin' brilliant, _I mused to myself as a nurse with an evil glint in her eye pulled out a particularly menacing needle.

Thankfully for me, Sakura, Ino and Mila busted in through the door. "Oh, Lori, I am so glad to see that you are awake! Kyoshiro will be so happy to see you." Mila squealed, trying to pull me into a crushing hug. Sakura remembered my condition and pulled her away instead.

As the doctors explained to me in the more detail exactly what was wrong with me, Ino and Sakura explained what had happened since the attack. I wasn't too fazed to hear that Orochimaru had killed the Hokage. I mean, the guy probably didn't deserve it, but he was the Hokage. That was what was expected of him.

What did piss me off was that Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto had gotten into a fight with Gaara. The pink-headed girl explained the whole fight and surprisingly didn't make Sasuke look better than he was. She actually seemed to be telling the whole truth. Sakura was the last person I thought I would hear say that Naruto is a fantastic ninja.

When the doctors were finally done and had left, everyone who had accumulated outside piled right in. It seemed that everyone I knew from the village had showed up and then some. Temari, Kankuro and Gaara took a place on the couch under the window. Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto came in and leaned against the wall along with Kakashi. The only person missing from Lee's squad was Lee himself. Chouji came and stood by Ino too. Kiba even squeezed in with Akamaru by sitting outside on the window ledge. Ryu and Shikamaru took the two chairs on either side of the bed. Shika seemed to reach out to me but withdrew.

There was a moment of silence; some people call it the calm before the storm. Then, of course, there was a flurry of 'are you okay's and 'how are you feeling's. I took the tough card and said I felt like shit, but who wouldn't after not showering for a week. Eventually, most everyone but my three silent protectors and Kyo had left. Mila had gone with the first flow to check on Kyoshiro.

I looked over at Gaara, Ryu, and Shika and deadpanned, "Well, you three had better leave before Kyo goes on his rampage. I wouldn't want you to get hurt." A flash of anger spread across Shikamaru's face for an instant before he nodded and left with the other two.

Kyo started pacing around the room like a caged tiger, his arms crossed one second and then his fingers running through his red locks the next. "I don't even know what possessed you to leave, Lori. Ryu explained it to m, and it would have made sense if everyone here were a weakling. I mean, come on! Some of the most famous and powerful shinobi reside in this village, for God's sake. We could have taken care of ourselves."

He turned stopped in front of my bed and yelled in our native tongue, "Everyone was worried about you: Mila, Kyoshiro, Shikamaru, his teammates. All of the people you left letters for came to me for a translation on the ending." Now he was speaking Dragon so fast that even I had a bit of a hard time understanding him. "Each one of them wanted to understand every part of your final goodbye. They tormented themselves over your message. Even that emo kid Sasuke seemed to consider what you said to him."

Kyo turned and faced me with a look of sadness and disappointment in his eyes. "You should be glad that I didn't translate what you wrote for Shikamaru. I don't think you seem to comprehend the fact that the kid was going crazy! If I had told him, he definitely would have snapped." What he said hurt. A lot. To be perfectly honest, I was still trying to comprehend that I was back. That everyone I had known and cared about knew that I was alive. I hadn't thought that far ahead yet.

I was trying to come up with something to say that didn't sound like an excuse when Kyo shook his head. "I shouldn't be here patronizing you like this. If I thought that I was endangering Mila and Kyoshiro, I might have done the same as a last resort. But you must have seen it as the only option on such short notice." I stared at him dumbfounded for a moment. _D-did Kyo, my cousin, just admit that he would have made the same mistake as I did? You have to be kidding me. He really __**must**__ have been worried._

"We had better let your watch dogs back in before they plan to bust down the door." The red-head commented, "Anything you want to say to me in private before we do?"

I licked my lips and asked the question that had been on my mind since I had left. "How bad was it?" It seemed as if he knew that was what I would ask.

"Bad. Just think about how bad it was for you, but put it in terms of him." I winced. Knowing that Shika hadn't played Shogi since I had left had put it into perspective already. That was his equivalent of me not eating honey.

All of a sudden more light burst into the room and Gaara, Shika and Ryu were back inside. "I hope you weren't eavesdropping, Ryu," Kyo spat, tapping his foot on the floor.

"Like I could. I mean damn," Ryu said, flopping onto a recliner to my right, "You spoke too fast for even me to understand."

Gaara murmured something under his breath that sounded like 'what I want to know is what they could have been saying that they didn't want anyone else to hear?' However, I was sure that couldn't be right. I looked at Shika again as he sat down on the couch, looking out the window.

"Seriously, guys, when was the last time you got a full night's sleep or a proper meal?" I tried to demand, but a loud gurgle erupted from my stomach. There was a moment of silence before all four of the men burst into laughter at my astonished face.

Now, bursting was different for each person. A corner of Gaara's mouth twitched, pulling up almost into a crooked grin. He covered that with his hand. Ryu was rolling on the floor, holding his stomach. "I…can't…breathe!" He whispered between bouts of giggles, his face turning a lovely shade of purple.

Kyo's laugh was more like a dinosaur's roar, echoing throughout the room and the entire hospital, doubtless. As always, Shikamaru tried to keep a straight face and with a voice dripping in sarcasm said, "So says the troublesome woman who has been living off an IV for a week. And people say _I'm_ a genius."

I started to laugh along with them. Then my eyes started to water from laughing so hard. "Oooh…Okay, okay, I'm good. How about we go and ask the nurse if you can get something to eat? We'll grab something for ourselves while we're at it. Deal?" Ryu offered and I nodded my head, still laughing. The boys shuffled out of the room, closing the door behind them.

I continued to shake, but it wasn't from laughter anymore. That innocent little comment Shika had made finally made me realize that I was home. It came to me like a flash flood: completely overwhelming and totally mind-blowing.

In all reality, I didn't know if the tears that came down were from laughing or that realization. On the other hand, it could have been that all that laughing was making my shoulder hurt like hell. Either way, it didn't matter.

_I'm home…_


	24. Chapter 24

~Shika's POV~

Once we snagged food of our own and begged some off the nurses for Lori, Gaara, Kyo, Ryu and I headed back up many flights of stairs to her room. Thankfully, Gaara used his sand to hold up the extra plastic tray. Even for a ninja, those stairs were absolute killer.

As I finally huffed up the last flight, Ryu, who was in the lead, stopped abruptly in front of the door. I leaned up against the wall to catch my breath. "What the hell…" I began to say, but he quickly shushed me with a wave of his hand.

The red-head peaked over Ryu's head and shook his own. "Look," Kyo whispered. From between the blinds outside of Lori's room, we could see her sitting up in the bed. About to bust through and yell at her for getting up, I saw something strange.

She was crying.

Lori was hunched over slightly, her thin shoulders shaking visibly under her overly large hospital gown. Her hair fell around her shoulders as she seemed to hold her face with her left hand. I might not have been able to see the tears, but her pain was obvious even to me.

All of us stood there for a moment, trying to decide what to do. _I've…I've never seen her cry. What the hell am I supposed to do? Give her some space? Or go in there and comfort her? Maybe I should just go in and ignore it? Damn…_ Never in my life had I been so completely stumped.

As we contemplated this, Gaara just waltzed right into her room without a second thought. I attempted to follow, but decided against it. Trying to be stealthy, the remainder of our group continued to look in through the window. We saw Gaara set both trays down on the little table and walk up to Lori. She was trying to regain her composure by wiping her eyes on the back of her hand.

Gaara had closed the door behind him, so we couldn't hear a thing and neither of them were at a good enough angle so I could read their lips. _Déjà vu. I hate déjà vu._

So our new trio ate in the hallway, waiting to see what happened.

~Lori's POV~

"Thanks Gaara," I said as he passed me the tray after I pulled myself together. He seemed to ignore the fact that I was crying, and for that, I was grateful. "Where is the rest of the crew?" I asked, eyeing the food.

The boy gave me a strange look before responding. "Your friends are outside the window. They seem to want to give you some space; I don't understand why that is necessary." His short, clipped sentences were much better than the old, 'yes', 'no', 'I'm going to kill you's that everyone used to get. The boy began to walk out onto the fire escape with his tray, prepared to leave it at that.

I shook my head at his complete ignorance of the human species. But he wouldn't be Gaara if he were any different. To grab his attention, I gave a polite cough. When he turned around, I patted the bed next to me in invitation. The puzzled look he gave me made it clear that I would have to elaborate.

"Gaara-kun, could you come here for a second? I need to talk to you about something." He did as I asked with little of the hesitation he held before. _Progress…_

"What do you want, Lorraine?" Gaara asked in that familiar monotonous voice. _Okay, baby steps.._.

For a moment, I stared him down to show that I really was serious. "Why did you hurt Rock Lee so badly? From what I heard, he may never be able to become a ninja because of what you did to him. Then you attacked my home. Your orders came from the Kazekage, but I also know that you know better than to listen to that twisted father of yours."

A look of guilt flashed through the kid's eyes before he looked away down into my bowl of soup. His voice had tints of bitterness and…sadness. "If you were friends, he should have stopped you from being killed. This village had to pay."

_Ouch,_ I thought, wincing slightly. _He isn't even trying and he is making me feel really guilty for leaving. Gaara may not have the puppy dog pout, but damn…_ It was time for some damage control.

I sighed and reached up, turning his face towards me with my good arm. "It'd be a lie to say not to worry about what you did. Back then, it may have seemed like a good thing to do, but I hope it doesn't seem that way now. If you really regret it, go apologize to Lee. I'm sure it will make that idiot feel really happy. He isn't one to hold a grudge."

Then I patted his cheek and shooed him back over to his food. "Now, eat your soup before it goes cold."

The permanent scowl on Gaara's faced lifted just a tiny bit. As he began to eat, I looked down at the nasty stuff I had in front of me. It was a plain broth with nothing in it and a glass of something that looked like bog slime. "What the hell kind of food is this?"

At that, the rest of the guys filed in with their already half empty trays. "Are you trying to kill me here?" I asked, pointing accusingly at the posse.

"This is the stuff the doctors told us to get you. You just came out of a coma, you little brat and you're heavy enough as it is. A diet will do you good." Kyo's face was smug as he bit into something that looked suspiciously like a slice of cheesecake. My stomach growled angrily and my hunger overshadowed the anger I felt towards that stupid smith.

My childhood friend gestured towards my food with a slice of pizza in hand. "It is good for you, Rain. You ate all the stuff I made for you when I was just learning how to cook. Don't tell me you won't eat this," Ryu said teasingly.

"Oh, so you called that crap you gave me cooking?" I demanded, and everyone laughed.

"Good point." The dragon possessed boy sat down.

Our resident lazy bum took the stool beside me as if on instinct. "We know how much you hate doctors. If you eat that stuff, you will get better faster and leave faster."

"If you put it that way…I guess I have no choice," I said, picking up the glass of green gunk. I took a whiff of it and gagged. "Nasty nasty nasty." Plugging my nose, I decided the best thing to do was chug it. I brought it to my lips and closed my eyes.

Nothing happened. "Oh my God! This crap is so thick it doesn't even come out of the glass!" I repeatedly stabbed the thing with a spork, as if it were a monster.

I glared at my cousin. "Hey stupid, come over here and taste if the broth is poisoned! It looks okay…" After a few moments quarrelling, I tentatively tasted the soupy liquid and deemed it satisfactory.

~Shika's POV~

A few minutes after Lori finally finished eating, a strange look crossed her features. "What's wrong?" I questioned, waiting for the girl to go on a rampage.

She was silent for a moment and murmured something I couldn't understand. "Are you all right? Rain, what's the matter?" Ryu asked, speaking softly as if he were trying to calm a wild animal. Lori repeated herself, but was still incomprehensible.

"Spit it out girly," Kyo growled, "Stop being such a chicken-shit and suck it up!"

"I…have to…go to the bathroom," she finally mumbled, fumbling her hands together much like Hinata.

I didn't understand what was wrong. For once, she seemed really embarrassed and shy. It took a moment to hit me. Lori was stuck with a bunch of wires and tubes going up places that they didn't need to be.

"Uh…oh…well…" I stammered, trying to think of something. The other guys realized it at about the same time as I did and even Kyo had the decency to look away.

All of a sudden, the girl started ripping the wires off of herself and taking out all the needles. A bunch of nurses were in there quicker than we could have reacted, rushing around the room. "Get me the paddles and three miligra-…" A black woman who seemed to be in charge stopped mid-sentence and threw Lori an evil glance before booming, "False alarm, people." Most of the nurses left, but a few hovered by the door.

That menacing look on her face grew as she looked back at her patient. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" She could have given our interrogators a run for their money in the scary department.

"I need to go to the bathroom." Lori stated simply.

"Well then go!" The woman replied and Lori started to get up again. "No," the nurse said, pushing her back down, "I mean use the catheter that we have you hooked up to."

A look of disgust replaced Lori's grimace. "Get real, hag. I mean come on! There are dudes in here. Just get me unhooked from all of this junk and let me go to the fucking bathroom!"

The whole time the two women were verbally duking it out, said dudes were looking at each other. The glances we gave had clear meaning. The first was, 'Oh, God, we were in here while Lori was going to the bathroom!' The next was, 'Ugh, what should we do?' with an accompanying, 'Apologize, or just leave and act like nothing happened?' I could feel an embarrassed blush flushing my cheeks.

As Kyo, Gaara, Ryu and I started to tip toe out of the room, Lori and the nurse suddenly turned on us. "Hey! Where the hell do you think you're going? Get your asses back here and tell this witch that I am perfectly capable of walking right now," Lori yelled, pointing at the nurse.

"I don't think so, girly. You shouldn't even be sitting up straight. You boys get back in here and help me tie her down to the bed. If she gets hungry, you can spoon feed her." All of us exchanged nervous looks. Even Gaara's eyes looked a little hesitant.

Lori's dark orbs flashed. "Ryu! Give me the Wing. I see I'll have to deal with this in a different way then I should have to."

As the panic stricken Ryu reached to get the requested weapon from by his chair, the nurse gave him a glare. If looks could kill, the poor guy would have been dead ten times over.

He stopped dead in his tracks and turned to the young woman sitting on the bed. "Don't worry, my little Ryu, I won't hurt anyone…" Lori's voiced dripped honey and acid at the same time. The brunette gulped and shook his head.

At that, a deadly hiss was emitted from Lori's throat. "Give. Me. My. Fan." I had never heard a scarier voice in my life. She was even angrier than the time Naruto replaced all the honey in her apartment with sweet and sour sauce.

Ryu practically fell on his face in fear when he passed her delicate but dangerous weapon. "Now shut up," Lori said as the nurse began to protest.

She wrapped both hands around it and held it to her chest. With her eyes closed, she whispered something that must have been in Dragon. A crazy aura flared around her hands, swirling erratically. I recognized the streaks of electric-blue lightning as her chakra, but the dull black mist specked with silver dust was not familiar. Just as I thought it was about to go out of control, part of it pooled around Lori's injuries and absorbed into her skin.

The rest went back into the weapon as suddenly as it had come.

"Now, if you examine me I promise that I will be at least a week through my recovery. Hurry it up though. I have to go rea~lly ba~ad." Lori complained, shifting in her seat like a five year old.

"Turn around boys," the nurse commanded and we did as she said. After a gasp and a few 'oohs' and 'ahs' from the nurses who had popped back in as soon as the danger had passed, the woman sighed in defeat.

"Go ahead." Before we could even turn around, Lori was in the connecting bathroom.

"She shouldn't have done that, you know." Kyo stated to Ryu.

The brunette plopped back down into his chair, putting his hands behind his head. "Well, what else was she going to use all that excess power in the Wing for? Rain, her mom, and her mom's mom have been storing every ounce of chakra they could spare for times when it was necessary. She couldn't have used more than an eighth of it."

"The red-head is right. Using chakra to speed up recovery is a tricky business for people who are not trained specifically in the field. You screw up and a broken bone or torn muscle will heal wrong. Then you have to redo the damage and start over. That chickadee is either stupid or crazy." The black nurse rubbed her temples as if she were fighting off a headache.

Then she turned to the bathroom and knocked. "Having any trouble in their, girl?"

"Yeah, I forgot how to wipe my own ass. For God's sake, would you leave me alone, you old witch?" Lori barked back.

_Ouch. What put her in such a bad mood?_ From behind the door, there was the unmistakable sound of puking. "Damn it," the nurse murmured and rushed in, closing the door behind her. "I knew you shouldn't have gone and healed your wounds so fast! You must have screwed up your internal injuries."

"No, I didn't. I only healed my leg and shoulder. The chakra didn't touch anything else. But after a week living on an IV, even broth doesn't settle well. I thought nurses would know that." Despite her sounding indignant, Lori's voice was weak.

"Well excuse me for being worried you killed yourself, missy." Both of them came out with that comment, the kunoichi limping slightly with a green tinge to her face and the black nurse up behind her.

After Lori laid back down, she mumbled, "I know it sounds crazy, but after a week of sleep, I am freaking exhausted." She let her eyes fall closed. "A nap sounds freaking fantastic right now."

We all sat down in our normal seats and watched her like we had been for the last few days. Lori stirred for a while, pulling the blankets up over her head. Then she twitched, pulling them back down. "Do you mind?" She asked us, raising an eyebrow.

"Mind what?" I asked back in confusion.

Lori scratched her head and looked away. "I'm not saying that I don't appreciate you guys being here and all, but could you leave? I can't sleep with the four of you staring at me." Her face flushed. "It makes me feel…I don't know…exposed? There has to be something you can do for a while, at least until I do fall asleep."

It felt weird, leaving her alone with no one to watch her. It was like she might disappear on me again. I had to admit that it would be somewhat hard to get to sleep with four people in the room, just looking at you for the sake of looking. "Now get out of here and get some lives, you creepers," she said playfully.

As we left, Kyo ruffled her hair and Ryu gave her a kiss on one cheek, in turn receiving a slap in the back of the head. Gaara just nodded, but Lori seemed satisfied. I couldn't decide what to say for the life of me. Then it just slipped out of my mouth as I turned off the light. "I'll be here when you wake up, you troublesome woman."


	25. Chapter 25

~Lori's POV ~

After the guys left, I tried to get back to sleep. Really, I did. It was just hard to do when you've been sleeping for a week and still feel queasy from barfing your guts up.

I finally managed to doze off for a few minutes before the nightmares started. The hospital air was suffocating me worse than when I was in my apartment, if that is even possible. Slowly -because I was still very stiff- I got up out of the bed. Luckily for me, the nurses hadn't tried to hook me up to any machines while I was tossing and turning in my sorry excuse for sleep.

I limped over to the window and saw that there was a fire escape. _Why the hell is there a fire escape in the coma ward of a hospital?_ I mused as I opened up the window.

_Oh, I have a feeling that I am going to regret this later… _A small 'oomph' escaped my lungs as I crawled through and landed on the cold metal below.

_It might not be the most comfortable place in the world, but I don't think that I can move anyway. _The energy just seemed to drain out of me as my mind cleared from the crisp night air. My lungs burned for a moment, unaccustomed to the cold after staying in the same lukewarm room for seven days. But it was worth it.

The blissful fog of insanity that nearly consumed me while in the dark lifted and was replaced by a strange mix of fear and sadness. The reality of my situation hit me as I looked out at Konoha, the place I had been sure I'd never be again. _I can't stay here. I need to leave as soon as I can move without collapsing from exhaustion. _

Tears came to my eyes. I had to leave again. This time, I couldn't fake it. At least some of them would try and follow, which would hinder my escape. I'd say I didn't want them to, but I prefer to not blatantly lie to myself. Part of me wanted them to care enough to put their lives at risk for me. But that was the selfish, irresponsible, useless part of me that had put me in this situation in the first place. _If I hadn't come back, this wouldn't have happened._

_If I hadn't come back, Shikamaru would be-_

The door opened quietly before being slammed shut in a panic. "Lori...Lori!" Shikamaru yelled, coming up to the open window and searching. _Speak of the devil… _

"Hi!" I waved from under the sill, and the look of horror that was on his face scared me. It was gone just as suddenly as it had appeared, replaced by the expression a relieved parent would give a naughty kid after they found them again.

"What are you doing up?" the boy asked as he looked out into the dark sky, still leaning against the window.

"Eh, I couldn't really sleep. Comas can do that to a person, I guess."

A small smile graced his lips as he said sarcastically, "Well, I don't think the nurses will take too kindly to you asking for a bed to be moved out here."

I snorted and patted the spot beside me. "I don't need a bed. The couch will do nicely."

Shikamaru accepted my invitation. Sliding out the window a lot more elegantly than I had, he plopped down beside me. "Oh, well that's different."

After that, a comfortable silence grew between us. My attention went to the streets below. Even though it must have been late, Konoha was still bustling. Couples walked around arm in arm, enjoying the cool air just as I had. Ninjas flew across rooftops with their deadly grace, off to missions or returning from them. Clubs and apartments had music thumping through their walls and neighbors screamed their annoyance. The flashing lights and pounding of the bass soon lulled me to sleep.

~Shikamaru's POV~

Just as I opened my mouth to speak, something made a soft 'thump' against my shoulder. "Lori, wh-. Oh brilliant. Troublesome woman," I muttered. _And right when I was about to have a serious conversation with you too._ But despite my complaining, I was relieved.

I didn't know how to bring up what had happened. 'Hey, sorry to bother you, but I wanted to know why you left because Ryu wouldn't tell me and I haven't the faintest idea,' didn't seem like a very tactful way to do it. Instead of plucking up the courage to wake Lori and have our long overdue chat, I sat there.

At first, I couldn't look at her. Every glimpse of the kunoichi with her eyes closed almost sent me into hysterics. _If I just sit here and listen to her breathe…_ Her breathing sounded so much different while Lori was asleep than when she was in the coma. It was still soft and deep, of course. I just never thought that snoring could be such a wonderful sound.

We must have been sitting like that for half an hour before I heard Ryu walk into the room. He and I had a similar reaction to finding her gone, but the dragon-possessed young man didn't yell. In a split second, he had stalked up to the window like an angry tiger, sword at the ready.

I tried not to feel guilty when the relief washed over his features. Ryu stared at the two of us strangely, not yet sheathing his blade. Trying to relieve the tension, I said weakly, "Mind giving me a hand?" I gestured toward Lori, still snoring peacefully against me.

A wicked smile was my answer. "Nah, I don't think I will. You can just wake her up if you want to move. A bed would be a lot more comfortable, I'm sure." Finally, the shinobi let his defenses down (or at least as much as a ninja ever does.)

"Well, she won't go back to sleep in the bedroom and wouldn't appreciate getting woken up." I put on my best serious face. With a sigh, Ryu leaned over the windowsill and picked her up by the shoulders as if she weighed nothing at all. I thought she was going to wake up and give him a swift whack in the head.

Ryu softly laid her onto the bed and tucked her limp body in under some blankets. With a sweet—almost motherly—smile, he tucked some loose hair away from his friend's face. Then he looked up. You could practically feel his confusion. "Why wouldn't she go back to sleep in the room?"

Now** I** was feeling confused. "What do you mean, you didn't notice? She never slept in the apartment while she was here. Lori just pulled her couch onto her balcony."

He seemed to ponder this for a second. "All Rain did was sleep…all the time. It didn't matter where it was."

I had never actually asked why she did it. It was stupid of me to assume that her little habit was nothing more than that.

A soft voice came from the bed. "It's the buildings. They suffocate me and I…have nightmares. Ryu and I mostly slept outside. When we did manage to get an inn, I always slept with the window open on the sill." She had startled both of us out of our wits. The girl gave a slight chuckle at our stupidity. "Oh, come on. Don't be so surprised. I might be tired, but I think I would have noticed being picked up like a rag doll."

The guilty person coughed to cover up a chuckle of his own. "Uh, Lori, sorry to break this to you," I said, "But you have windows in your apartment too."

"Don't be such a smart ass. My windows don't have seats under them, and why do that when I have a whole bloody balcony anyway? I'm not stupid." Lori looked around for the first time since she'd woken up and spotted someone missing. "Where's Gaara?"

"Now that you aren't in a coma, he finds you much less appealing. He's at the hotel with his sibs. You know, the chick with the freaky ponytails and the dude with face paint," Ryu remarked at his tried imitating what the two looked like.

Just as Lori was about to chew out the other ninja, her favorite nurse, whose name we found out to be Shaniqua, came in. "Hey, it's one o'clock in the morning. Ya'll should be asleep." Ryu looked like he was going to pee his pants if he already hadn't. "Now, I'm feeling good this morning, so I'm gonna let you off easy. But if I come in and see that ya'll are awake, I'm gonna bust some heads."

"Fine," I murmured. Ryu plopped down on the couch, with his sword lying down beside him as if to prove he really was going to sleep. At that, Shaniqua left.

Lori had to have the last say, of course. "Aw, doesn't little Ryu look so cute snuggling up to his precious White Lily?"

I had to hand it to the idiot, he knew exactly how to press her buttons. "Well, how can you not adore such a masterpiece? She's plain gorgeous. G'night, my love." And he planted a big kiss on the hilt before fake snoring up a storm before finally falling into a real sleep.

I sat with my eyes closed for a while before I got up. Well, a while for me. Looking over at the bed, I saw Lori staring at me. "I knew you weren't asleep. You snore about as much as Ryu and you drool too."

The only thing I could do was ignore her comments or risk my sanity. "You're the one who should be sleeping. I sleep enough for the two of us as it is, and I wasn't even in a coma."

It was quiet for another five minutes. "I'm bored!" Lori complained.

"What do you want me to do about it?" I asked.

"I dunno! You're supposed to be the smart one, Mr. Over-200-IQ-who-has-never-been-beaten-at-shogi!" she whispered harshly. I remembered how my sensei, Asuma, had beaten me a while before, but decided not to spill that particular secret.

With a groan, I stood. "Give me a minute then, your highness, and I'll get something that will keep both of us amused."

~Ryu's POV~

I watched from under slit eyelids as Shikamaru left the room at his signature lackadaisical pace. A few minutes later, the lazy bum came back, pushing a shogi board in with him. "Where the hell did you find this?" Rain asked in amazement.

"The old hags on the floor above us were passed out in front of it. I doubt they'll need it any time soon," Shikamaru drawled, positioning the wheeled table between his chair and the bed. Rain tried to swing her legs to the edge and almost fell. The boy caught her arm quickly to prevent disaster, then dropped it like a hot brick. I could have sworn there was a blush on his cheeks.

After setting up the board for play, the two started chatting like old coots. I almost actually fell asleep from sheer boredom. They spoke of random topics like the weather (specifically clouds they had seen during their separation), the price of rice in Otogakure, and how hard it would be to find a new Hokage after the recent death of Sarutobi.

However, it was interesting to hear about how Rain's friends were doing after the battle. Whenever Shikamaru hadn't been on babysitting duty or running home for a quick shower, he was wandering the halls, checking up on the people they knew who had been injured during the attack. Naruto might have gotten out before, but his new training master, Jiraiya, was constantly getting him injured. Rain's face went dark for a moment at the mention of some 'Rock Lee' and how badly injured he was.

Of course, that clever Nara boy was able to steer her away from such bad news and back onto topics like how two chicks named Pig and Cherry cut their hair off. The way he talked about the fight made it about as interesting as watching paint dry, but Rain was enthralled. She looked like he was describing a slugfest. _Hm, she's pretty good at Shika-ese._

Suddenly Rain swore like a sailor in Dragon before going back to Japanese. "Damn! I know I shouldn't have expected to get any better after not practicing, but still!" She was boxed in.

"Stop complaining so much, woman. It gets tiresome… And now I'm tired." He swept the pieces off the board and laid his head down on it. "G'night."

Rain pouted. "Shika, don't be such a spoil sport! I know you're just saying that because you want me to sleep. But I'm fine, really."

"Sure. So you yawning every three seconds means you're ready for a marathon," Shikamaru mumbled into the wood. Then he turned his head just enough to peer at her through one dark eye. "Just go to sleep already." For once, the Nara kid didn't just brush off an argument. He might not have stood up and yelled his reply, but compared to how he usually acted, it was a big difference. Anytime that I had tried to get him angry (which was often, since I was bored to tears), Shikamaru mumbled something about 'troublesome' and ignored me.

Rain seemed to get he was being serious as well. With a sigh, she turned towards me, pulling the blanket over her head. Shikamaru moved the table and leaned back. Before long, he was sound asleep.

"Ryu," the girl beside me hissed in our native tongue, "I know you are awake. Spying on people isn't nice. I thought I would have beaten that into your skull by now."

Since I was caught, I opened my eyes all the way, keeping my voice down. "So? You spy on people all the time."

She smirked. "I just never get caught." It was silent for a moment before her smug look was gone and the hollow stare she had the whole time we were away came back. "We're going to leave as soon as I can walk properly. I don't know when that will be, but if necessary I will use the Wing again. I hope I don't have to, but getting out of here a second time is going to be a lot harder."

I had known that this was going to pop up again. The two of them playing shogi helped me to decide what to do. My throat was suddenly dry and it took a second for me to speak without my voice shaking. _I have to stay strong._ "Who said 'we'?" I kept my tone light, but the look I was giving her was anything but carefree. "I kind of like it here. The people don't seem to mind me and I've made some friends while you were out cold."

Guilt gripped my heart with iron fingers as Rain stared at me with shocked eyes. "You mean…you are going to stay even if I go?" I nodded stiffly. A strangled sob escaped her throat. "A-and you value their friendship over mine?" I couldn't lie that much to her, so I stayed silent and turned around, my back facing my best friend.

My silence seemed to upset her even more. Rain was quiet for what seemed like forever before her quavering voice met my ears. "I understand. A-after everything….You deserve better. This place and these people will give you the things that I never could. They'll make you happy. And I won't —no, I can't— take that away from you, consamin'ara." Then she fell silent but for the few sobs she couldn't hold back as she cried.

Having her call me that destroyed me. I wanted so badly to turn around, bring her into my arms like a true brother would do and say, 'No, I lied. I could never betray you, Rain. It's alright.' But I couldn't. No matter how much it killed me, I had to stay strong.

_Everything I do, I do for you. Perhaps you'll never forgive me, but this is for your own good._ Those thoughts and her tears lulled me into a fitful sleep.


	26. Chapter 26

~Shikamaru's POV~

The next day, Lori woke up in a strange mood. I mean, it wasn't as if she wasn't acting ordinary. I couldn't really put my finger on it, but there was some kind of feeling of gloom and doom surrounding her, despite her cheery attitude. It was almost as if she were acting _too_ normal.

Ryu had left on some random errand that no one but I seemed to question before Lori woke up. _What kind of errands would he have to run in a village he is unfamiliar with?_ Nothing innocent, I'm sure.

Gaara arrived without his siblings and sat down quietly on the couch as usual. The kunoichi waking up didn't seem to deter the demon-possessed ninja. He spoke with Lori about people in the Sand Village for a few hours while I sat there, pondering what Ryu could be doing. I was unwilling to leave Lori to track him, however.

Kyo came in right as I thought I was about to go insane. "All Mila has been saying for the past week is when the hell we're telling my son. I can't take the woman anymore!" He plopped down on the couch beside the other red-head, unperturbed by the empty stare the younger man gave him.

We hadn't told Kyoshiro about Lori yet just in case she never woke up. Then we didn't tell him because we didn't want the enthusiastic boy to come in and kill her in a bone-crushing hug. It also seemed that she was reluctant to see him, for her own reasons.

"I'm not going to see him until I get to take a shower and get my old clothes back," Lori demanded, but the nurses argued profusely. Despite the healing she performed on herself, she was still unable to walk properly yet. Shaniqua, the head nurse, was out on vacation, so the stubborn girl finally got her way.

After a lot of yelling between the two cousins, Kyo left to get some clothes from Lori's apartment that she couldn't bring when she left. His wife came back in his stead with one of her usual black and silver kimonos; she snatched it up in an instant. "Dear, please do be careful. You're not fully healed," the petite woman begged.

Slowly, Lori stood and put a hand on Mila's shoulder. "Ha, this is no problem. It is just going to the bathroom," she said with a smile before hobbling towards the connecting facilities, a crutch under one arm and a bundle of clothes under the other.

The nurses were huddled by her side the whole way, but she refused to be touched by them or helped taking a shower. "I am not a child! It isn't necessary for you to help me bathe. God! How embarrassing that would be. I feel sorry for old people, yep I do." It sounded like a typical Lori-esque response. And yet…

Even with that argument, the nurses stayed outside the bathroom door and called her name for reports every minute or so. Thirty annoying calls and thirty smart-ass retorts later, she stepped out looking refreshed and a lot happier. "Okay, let's see my cousin. The cute one, if you please." Mila took charge of the girl's long locks and Lori sat on the bed, wincing with every tug of the brush. Just as the older woman wrapped the kunoichi's hair in a ponytail, a flash of red popped up outside the window leading to the hall.

A bellowing yell from a certain blacksmith stopped the object dead in its tracks before it busted down the door. "Kyoshiro Arashi, stop that nonsense right now. You won't get the surprise I promised if you take one more step towards that door!"

"But Daddy," the little boy whined, "I feel someone I know nearby. I wanna see who it is. Let me go, plea~se."

The gruffer voice sighed, "Since when have you been able to sense chakra?" He didn't wait for a response. "Go on in, but don't…"

~Lori's POV~

"…be loud," Kyo trailed off outside the door as the red-headed, green-eyed five year old smashed through the door for a dramatic entrance Gai-sensei would have been proud of. His pretty eyes scanned the room for about half a second before he caught sight of me.

An 'Aunt Lori-chan' was shrieked into the air as a bullet made its way straight for me. I was tackled to the bed. The wind was instantly knocked out of me and the pain from my shoulder made a cold swear appear on my brow. "Did you miss me, little Shiro?" I asked sarcastically between his rantings.

"Oh my goodness, Lori-chan, I misseded you so much! Did you miss me? Where have you been? Why did you leave so quick? Did'ja kick some bad guy butt when you was gone?" I gently pushed him down onto my lap with one hand and covered his mouth with the other, shaking my head in mock-anger.

"Slow down, mister. There are only so many things I can answer at once." The boy immediately hushed, so I took my hand off his mouth. "Let's see if I can do this in order…Of course I missed you, silly. I had to go away for a while on a top-secret special mission. And yes, I kicked some butt. When don't I?" From the look he was giving me, I was the best ninja in the world.

"Now, if you'd let go of me for a minute, you'd see who else is in the room," I said, prying him off me. Ryu was standing behind him, having stepped in during the reunion.

"Uncle Ryu-kun!" The ninja was almost subjected to the same treatment as I had been. Ryu was quicker though, grabbing him by the arms and spinning him around the enclosed space, getting hysterical giggles from the child.

"He isn't your uncle and Lori isn't your aunt, Kyoshiro…" Kyo tried to explain for the millionth time, but Mila hushed him with a violent elbow to the ribs.

After he was interrogated as well, Ryu set the boy down onto the side of my bed. Our eyes locked for a moment before I looked at Gaara on the couch. He seemed very uncomfortable in this friendly atmosphere and appeared about ready to jump through the window. Feeling sorry for him, I tentatively stood. "I want you to meet someone new, little Shiro."

I grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the now extremely unsure Gaara. Sand swirled around him in warning, but I ignored it. "Kyoshiro, this is my friend. I hope you can be friends with him too." A pair of innocent green eyes looked up at me and he smiled a toothy grin.

Kyoshiro took a step towards him, sticking his hand out through the sand. "I'm Kyoshiro Arashi, Lori-chan's cousin. I'm formerly of the Storm Village, but I live here now. What is your name?" His parents were about to say something, but Ryu hushed them.

Gaara gave me a reluctant look. I made a shooing gesture, motioning for the ninja to interact with the child. He took the small hand in his and shook it slightly. "Subaku no Gaara of the Village Hidden in the Sand."

Kyoshiro's practiced formality was broken with that and he shook the ninja's hand up and down vigorously. Then he suddenly stopped. My cousin jumped up onto Gaara's lap, peering into his face intently. I almost grabbed him before the sand attacked, but Gaara was so shocked, the sand had stopped moving completely. "You look like me, Gaara-kun! We should be twins! From now on, you are my Twin."

Looking at them, they did seem very similar. In my mind, the boy would have looked just like my cousin as a child. "Are you a ninja, Twin?" The excited kid asked. Gaara nodded stiffly. "Are you as strong as Lori-chan? Never mind. No one is as strong as Lori-chan! But I bet she would teach you some moves, Twin, since she is so nice."

At that, everyone laughed. Gaara still looked a little uneasy but the sand soon settled down as his new 'Twin' pounded him with random questions that he answered in as short of phrases as possible. When it seemed like the poor guy would crack, I coughed loudly and huffed, "Well, I feel neglected." Kyoshiro instantly turned around and ran back to me.

Soon, he had to leave because of a birthday party he wanted to attend. The kid tried to invite Shika, Ryu, Gaara and I, but we all made reasonable excuses. Okay, maybe not so reasonable. Shika said he was tired and Ryu had to go mend some socks. Gaara wouldn't say anything, so I, of course, made his excuse. "Yeah, I promised to teach Gaara some moves today. You know that I don't break promises." The little boy put on a serious face and nodded glumly as the rest of the people in the room suppressed chuckles.

When he left with his mother, I collapsed onto the bed. "Who knew kids could be so tiring?" I asked no one in particular.

"You were the one who had to look like she was all better for her cousin. If you had stayed in your hospital gown and lay in bed, I think Kyoshiro would have left early. But no… Lorraine Arashi had to be all tough." Shikamaru murmured. I tried to keep a straight face, but couldn't. "What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry, but was that Shikamaru Nara I just heard give me a lecture?"

He gave a little huff and replied, "Well at least I know my limits."

I could almost feel Ryu's back stiffen from over on the bed. He still hadn't talked to me after last night and I wasn't about to break the silence. _It will be better if we aren't on speaking terms when I leave. When I leave…I don't want to go but I have to. The people who were after me will find out I am alive 'again' if they already haven't, and will be after me. The best thing to do is leave and keep them as far away from the Leaf Village as possible. Maybe I'll go back to Lightning Country; I'll have to change my name again though. What a hassle._

"Earth to Lori. Lorraine. Lorraine Arashi!" Kyo bellowed.

I was startled out of my reverie by his ridiculously loud voice. "Huh! Oh, what do you want?"

"Well, if you are going to be such a pig about it, I might as well not tell you the good news." That damned smug look was on his face that pissed me off so much!

I just about had a heart attack and a stroke at the same time. Taking a deep breath to stop myself from trying (and failing) to kill him, I said, "And what good news would that be, my wonderful cousin?"

"Someone finally remembered that your birthday was a couple of days ago, so we are going to do something fun."

Angry mumbling came from Shika's direction. "You have got to be kidding me! It was her birthday? How troublesome… Someone should have told me."

"It's okay, really. Ryu and I celebrated enough." An evil smirk swept across my friend's face and I realized what his plan was. _He doesn't want me to leave. He doesn't care if these people get hurt at all. The more that I hang out with everyone, then the less I will want to leave. Conniving little prick..._

"I feel really bad," Ryu choked out, looking at his feet in shame, "All we did was go to a little restaurant, and she barely ate. I didn't even get her anything. I'm a horrible friend."

Only Kyo knew that the dude was lying. Ryu **never **acted meek. "No, no, he is being modest. We had a lot of fun. Don't you remember that hot dude who was hitting on me? Mmm-hmm, I do love blondes." _BS! I hate blondes with a passion!_

"What was his name again?" Ryu asked innocently. He was trying to catch me in a lie. _Psh, child's play. _

"Charles. He was a foreigner, that's for sure. Ha, the man barely spoke a word of Japanese. Then I threw him for a loop and started speaking Dragon. The poor guy thought I was still speaking Japanese and totally freaked, flipping through one of his stupid Japanese to English dictionaries."

Ryu frowned slightly. _He can't go and call me out on my lie or I'll call him out on his. He should have remembered to have some details to back up a story but not too many. It is almost a shame I'm so good at lying. I should have been in a traveling acting troupe._

Then I saw Gaara from the corner of my eye. There wasn't any real emotion on his face, but even that fact made me realize that this was probably the closest he had ever been to going to a birthday celebration; when I left, he would probably never have that opportunity again. I sighed. "Okay, okay. But only something small. It isn't like there is much you can do in a hospital room anyway."

Gaara's lips twitched and I have to say, it was worth it.

Damn that smug look of Kyo's to the pits of hell. "There's another part of the good news, Lori. This is the last night you are going to stay here. The doctors say that because you healed yourself, you can go home tomorrow. That means we can throw as big of a party as we want."

Now, Kyo had never been a fan of parties at all, but I like them less. I mean, yeah, they were fun when it was just a few close friends. However, when you got to more than one or two new people there, my brain kind of over-loaded. I'm a good liar, so people don't notice it very much; that didn't make it any more comfortable for me though. Too many new names, too many random people…

Moreover, my cousin knew it. It was almost guaranteed that he was going to invite half of the village just to watch me suffer. _ I changed my mind. It isn't worth it. Nothings worth that. _I just couldn't give him the pleasure. "How fun," I said sarcastically, "At least I can get out of here and go back to sleeping out on my balcony."

"Can she at least come outside for a little while today? We still have a few hours of daylight, and I'm not going to sit here and listen to how bored she is," Shikamaru complained.

My patience went from decent to non-existent. "If you don't want to be here, then go somewhere else. I'm not going to choke and die on something just because I'm alone. That is what nurses are for."

At that moment, Shaniqua came back in and I swear, everyone knew that I didn't want to go outside. Outside meant seeing people, which meant dredging more memories to the surface that I didn't want to think about. "Girly, you need to get back up on your feet or else we'll have to put you in physical therapy to get you walking again."

I winced visibly. "Tomorrow, I promise. I'll be up and at 'em early in the morning. Then you won't have to deal with me again."

"I doubt it, girly. Every ninja in here says that, and they always come back. Unless they kick the bucket, ninja will be ninja. And ninja get injured. That is just the way it is." For a second she sounded like those thousand-year-old sages who knew everything about everything. That was, of course, until she opened her fat mouth again. "Just make sure you give me a week's break before you get back. I don't think I can deal with you much longer."

On that happy note, everyone went about his or her way. I think Shikamaru was a little mad at me for the pretty much saying I was sick of him being right there by my side. Only God knows how untrue that was. Ryu was mad at me for sure, so he left. Gaara didn't want me to see that he cared (or at least I told myself that), so he went back to his little shared hotel room with his sister and brother. Kyo had his family waiting at home for him too.

So I was left alone.

Since I was lacking a pair of pajamas, I slowly changed into a hospital gown (sans the open back, thanks). It wasn't as comfortable as my normal clothes, but I wasn't about to get woken up by Shaniqua screaming at me for my 'stupidity'.

I took a deep breath and steeled myself as I went over to that horribly lumpy thing they called a mattress. _I'll never be able to get it out the window in my state. How pathetic…_

So I went and grabbed my blanket and a pillow instead. Then I snuggled up onto the little couch under the open window. Even with that, I couldn't get to sleep. I felt that paranoia you get after watching a scary movie, being unable to drift off into dreamland because of the fear that something was going to get you. I felt…insecure.

Realizing that, I got up and snatched the Wing and Fang off the table. They helped ease my anxiety-like hell the Grudge lady is going to sneak up on me now!-but there was still something missing. After a moment of thought, I grabbed my Leaf headband and tied it around my neck.

Unconsciously, I reached for the area where my sleeve would have been. With a groan, I stood and retrieved the photo strip out of my pile of clothing.

It was weird that I needed all four of the things to finally get to sleep, but I didn't want to contemplate it. Slowly, almost agonizingly so, I faded into a dreamless sleep. And although I did, that feeling of paranoia and being watched didn't die away completely.


	27. Chapter 27

~Shikamaru's POV~

It was hard not to laugh at Lori's weak efforts to put the mattress on the balcony, but I'm sure she would have heard me if I did. I stayed outside her window for the sake of my sanity. I knew that I should just trust her not to leave in her condition; she could barely move without flinching in pain. Staying in the room with her was not an option, but I knew that if I'd stayed home, I wouldn't get any sleep at all. So stalking her outside the window was all that was left to me.

She stood up and walked over to get her stuff after tossing and turning for a few moments. Lori grabbed her fan and sword, which I totally could have seen coming. What I didn't predict was the girl taking her Leaf headband and wrapping it around her neck in her usual style. For a second, she hesitated before digging into her clothes to produce a little photo strip. There was really only one that it could be. The thin piece of paper was worn more with weather than mine, but the tell tale signs of folding and refolding were definitely apparent. I ducked back under the windowsill as she turned around and lay back down.

She sat leaning against the wall in the position that every swordsman takes; one leg straight, the other bent up with the Fang leaning against her neck in between them. The Wing was neatly hidden under a pillow within easy access. The photo strip was still held gently in one of her hands.

A few hours of boredom and cramping in my legs later, I stood up and backed away from the open window. I looked at the position of the moon and saw dawn was approaching rapidly._ Lori always gives herself a few hours in the morning if she is going anywhere. At least now I can go home and sleep in peace for a while._

~Lori's POV~

I woke the next morning to find weather that reminded me of my home and my worst nightmare. For once, the sun wasn't glaring in through my window to show the start of a new day. Clouds that promised at least a light sprinkle but more likely a heavy downpour were blocking the ever present orb from sight.

I looked around to see that no one had come back in the middle of the night to stay with me. _Thank whatever God or gods that are out there. People staring me down is just creepy._ What I wouldn't dare admit to myself was that their staring wasn't the worst part. It was the look in their eyes of fear turning to utter relief when they saw I was awake. The desperation and sadness in those looks were heart wrenching.

Proof that someone **had** been there during my sleep was evident in the pile of clothes on the bed. I stood up, carefully testing my healing body. My head had finally stopped the strange, fuzzy delirium that comes from being asleep for too long and I could comfortably move my leg and shoulder without any sharp pains. My movements were stiff and graceless, it's true, but I was happy enough with my progress.

I grabbed the bundle of clothes and found that it was a new outfit in my signature colors. A proper kimono, not for fighting or working, was the central piece. The silk was of that smoky blue shade I adore. The obi was a shiny silver color that accented it perfectly. The borders of the sleeves, bottom and neckline were the same. Silver, dark blue, and grey tiger lilies ran up both sleeves and the bottom hem. A pair of slippers that didn't look very conventional were laid on the floor. After I took a shower, I got dressed in the outfit and found a note tucked into the shoes.

_**This is part of your birthday present from Kyo, Kyoshiro and I. Kyo told us that you always got a new pair of clothes for your birthday. You had better be in this when you come to Shikamaru's house at 1:00 so we can start off your special day. Don't come too late!**_

_**Mila Arashi**_

There was some makeup settled on the counter of the bathroom. I just put on a tad bit of lip-gloss, ignoring the rest of it. A traditional bun was what I chose for my hairstyle. Armed with the knowledge that half of the village would be at the gathering, I double checked my appearance in the mirror and almost jumped out of my skin.

I looked so thin and worn out that I could barely believe it was me. My skin had the grayish tinge of death and the beautiful kimono just made the contrast worse. I wiped off the lip-gloss and put my hair down to help hide my sunken face. Luckily for me, Mila had gotten my new measurements somehow and the kimono wasn't baggy.

The glaringly bright digital clock read twelve. I put the Leaf headband around my neck, strapped the Fang to my back, weapons pouch to the inside of my leg, hid the Wing in my sleeve and tucked the photo strip along side it.

After signing out of the hospital, I started walking slowly towards the Nara household. Due to my lack of chakra and restricting garb, it took me more than 20 minutes to navigate in and out of side streets. I was sidetracked occasionally by people who recognized me and heard the news that my death was faked. I plastered a smile to my face and endured the stops. The closer and closer I got to my destination, the more agony my heart suffered. Every step I took, every breath I breathed limited the time I was to be here.

I was completely certain that I had to leave this calm, peaceful place_. _The people that I loved were in danger and I wouldn't let what happened in the Storm Village occur again because of me. I had lied to Kyo when I said that the Star Village was who attacked us and killed my parents. They were much more dangerous than that group of lowlifes.

I also wasn't going to take away this place from the brother of my heart, Ryu. He wasn't responsible for the atrocities that I committed. He may have committed sins himself, but not of his own fault. The dragon inside of him, Coal, was the one who made him kill his parents.

Even that malicious being would gasp at what I had done. It was why I had left and survived on my own for such a long time, why I traveled alone to every country on the continent. No matter where I went, the memories haunted me. Until I came to this place. Something about it soothed my aching soul to a point that the thirst for my own death eased away into the back of my mind.

I didn't even notice that I had made it Shika's house until I saw the familiar surname carved on a sign next to the door. _Deep breath in…out…okay. Let's go._ I knocked on the door lightly.

Mrs. Nara's voice vibrated the very foundations of the house. "COME ON IN! THE DOOR IS OPEN!" I did as I was told and walked into the kitchen.

"Hello Mrs. Nara," I said tentatively. Since she was one of the only people who didn't visit me in the hospital after I woke, I had a feeling that her wrath was to be set on me. I can assure you, that feeling isn't a pleasant one. For a civilian, she can be as tough, if not tougher, than some jounin.

I barely received a nod of acknowledgement when she heard me. "Oh. It's you. Why are you here so early?" she asked without any emotion in her voice.

"The note said for me not to be too late. So I got here early," I responded. There were flour, eggs and other baking ingredients strewn all over the place. On instinct, I grabbed an apron to help out.

There was an awkward silence for ten minutes or so before she spoke up. "This is all for you, you know."

I stopped pouring some batter into a tin. "What?"

"This is for your birthday party. All of your friends are out setting up Kyo's place for a party and I'm in charge of the cakes and such. They were going to surprise you with a huge cake, but you ruined it," she continued, not once looking at me or saying my name. If the word had come from her mouth, it probably would have been said with disgust and contempt.

"I'll act surprised, if you want…" I started to say, but she finally turned to face me. Her expression was that of such anger and sorrow that I almost dropped the batter on my foot.

"You know what I want? I want to know why you broke my boy's heart!" the woman howled out of nowhere. "Shikamaru almost died when you left. Even though his body survived, he acted like his soul was gone. I thought that was how he'd be for the rest of his life! But right when he started acting slightly more like himself, I get the call that **you're** back. Lorraine bloody Arashi is back from the dead!"

Mrs. Nara's face was twisted with fury as she backed me up against the wall. Had she gone to hit me, I don't think I would have stopped her. My shock was just too great. "He wouldn't even leave your bedside to get changed out of his blood drenched clothes until someone swore to stay up with you. Shikamaru sat by your bedside waiting, hoping, praying that you would wake up. He was like a ghost. I don't think I could bear to my son like that again," she said, her voice fading out into a whisper, tears pouring down her face.

I reached out to comfort her, but she pulled back like I was a demon from the very pits of hell. "Promise me that you won't do that to him again! Damn it, swear to me!" she screamed through her sobs.

"I…I can't. I'm not sure that I won't." I said, and turned to go outside. Mrs. Nara's outburst put all the doubts I had about leaving to rest. _I have to leave now. I can't even risk a goodbye. Since all of them are setting up the party, I can get some extra time to leave. I need as much of a head start as I can get. Once I'm in another country, there is no way they'll be able to find me. _

I went up the stairs to my old apartment, forgoing my usual chakra enhanced leap. Someone had cleaned up the whole place and stock-piled the cupboards. In five minutes flat I had a pack filled with food, money, clothes and other supplies I would need. There wasn't enough time to get changed and I would better blend in as a civilian.

As I turned to leave, I saw a covered item in my bedroom. Curious, I took off the blanket shrouding it. I gasped as I stared at a cherry shogi board on a stand made of the same wood. It was beautifully crafted and smelled as if it had been carved just recently. Without even a moment's thought, I knew it was from Shika. He knew that my dad and grandpa played on a cherry board.

I allowed myself to take one piece and rub it between my fingers before I dropped it onto the floor. _No! I can't stay. Don't let yourself be side tracked from your goal, Lorraine._ A single tear dropped from my eye as the expected rain began to fall.

~Shikamaru's POV~

Everything was set up and ready to go on our end. Kyo's back patio and house were covered in balloons, confetti and streamers. The food was all ready and set out for the crowd of hungry people sure to rush it as the celebrations began. Everyone was here, dressed in relatively nice clothes and staking presents on a table for Lori. I had gone and put my own gift, a pretty little cherry shogi board, in her house and changed into a white button up shirt and black slacks. All we had to do was wait for the late-birthday girl to arrive.

And we had been waiting for 10 minutes past the expected deadline. _ Lori is never late for anything. She's always early._

"I'm going to go and get her. I'll be back in a bit," I said to no one in particular and headed off towards the hospital. Not bothering to check in, I jumped through the open window of her bedroom. It had already been cleaned up and was ready for another patient. A pang of worry stabbed me in the chest.

I quickly ran off towards my house and saw my mother sobbing on the floor. "Mom! What happened?" I asked, leaning down towards her.

"She wouldn't promise to not do it again. Won't you promise never to become that person again?" she asked frantically. It scared the crap out of me, seeing my stubborn, troublesome mother in such a state, but Lori was at the top of my priority list at the moment.

With only one backwards glance, I jumped up to Lori's apartment and saw clothes and food scattered everywhere. _This isn't happening…This can't be happening…This is just not real…_ But then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the shogi board uncovered with the Dragon King piece on the floor. There was no doubting it.

She was gone.

My heart pounded wildly as I ran as fast as I could back to Kyo's place. "SHE'S GONE!" I yelled and everyone froze.

Horror and guilt reflected in Ryu's eyes as I grabbed him by the neck of his shirt and slammed him against the wall. "You knew about this, didn't you? Where is she headed?"

"I don't know. I thought that if she came to the party, she would realize how much she loves it here and not want to go. But Rain is just too stubborn."

Kakashi stood up and gave orders to all of the ninja in the room to fan out and find her. "She is still recovering from critical injuries, so Lori can't be far. Put the whole village on alert; we can't let her pull another stunt like this under our noses."

We all jumped out into the rain and rushed off, our chakra enhanced steps eating up distance. I was off like a bullet myself, going to each of the checkpoints to get out of the village first. My brain finally caught up with me and I stopped under a tree.

_She is smart enough to know that we will try to find her soon. Where would she go to get out of the village without anyone knowing? Think…think..._ The second it hit me, I rushed off to the one place where she would go.

~Lori's POV~

I was already on the trail to the field when I felt a sudden surge of many different chakras emanating from the village behind me. _Damn it! They're already on the search. I have to start moving._

But a voice in the back of my head was saying, _It isn't worth it. You won't make it out before they get you. Just give up now and kill yourself. Death is the only way to protect them now. _I ignored that suicidal whisper and continued on at a faster pace. Before I had been walking briskly. Now I busted into a slow run. My leg's fragile wound started to break and I felt the muscle start to peel from the bone. _Go, go, go. Faster, faster, faster._

I was almost to the bordering trees when my body stopped without my consent. No matter how hard I tried, I could not move a single muscle. I could barely breathe.

"Why?" A cracked voice asked from behind me. "Why would you leave us again? Why would you leave me again? Is it that you hate it here? Or maybe you don't care enough about anyone here…" My body started to turn on its own and I saw Shika dressed in white and black, soaked from the rain. I started to walk forward against my will as he did the same.

I tried to look at him, but even my eyes wouldn't obey the command. "I don't deserve happiness. I'm a monster. Monsters should die and never find a wonderful place like this," I whispered.

He looked at me incredulously and said, "You're not a monster. Why would you even think that?" I ignored him, and he asked again, both of us taking a step closer. "There is nothing you could have done to not deserve happiness…" With that, I cracked, screaming with all the emotion I had bottled up.

"I slaughtered my whole family with this sword! I ripped my unborn baby brother out of my mother's swollen stomach and hacked my father to pieces! I lit Ryu's house on fire and watched him panic and burn inside! Listen to that and tell me that I'm a human," I shrieked, struggling against his shadow's grip and opening both of my wounds completely.


	28. Chapter 28

**Author's Note: First things first, sorry for the horrible delay on JM and all of my other stories. I hope I make up for it in this long (and awesome) chapter. Just because this particular chapter is so ridiculously brutal in parts, I've changed the rating to Mature for some sick, twisted violence. There will be one more chapter after this, which will kind of be an epilogue. Where I first published this on Quizilla, some people complained that they wanted to know what happened to some of the characters. That epilogue was made to do just that. Beyond those words, I won't say any more. Please enjoy the heart-pounding climax of my story!**

Shika stood there, looking at me like the monster I am. The terrible story started bubbling out of me in waves that I couldn't stop.

~Look into the Past, Lori's POV~

I had just gotten back from the very peak of the Dragon Mountain the day after Ryu had been seriously injured in a training session. A wild dragon had caught him when Coal, his inner demon, tried to take control. Ryu was smashed up against a cliff face several times before his unconscious body was thrown off it. I found him at the bottom, limbs bent in horrible positions and bleeding profusely from a blow to the head. I grabbed him and ran as fast as I could back to the village.

He was resting at home at the moment. I was on the very outskirts of town, collecting herbs that would help with the healing process. Unlike most ninja, Ryu can't be easily healed with jutsu because his dragon rejects it. That is also an upside since it is hard to get him with offensive jutsu as well. It makes him an excellent choice to be one of the Dragon Keepers.

I had stopped for a rest; I wasn't in great condition either. We had been up at the top of the mountain training for weeks. The fatigue, hunger and paranoia had affected me significantly. Ryu had gone through much of the same. That was the reason Coal had tried to take over in the first place. _Ugh, I had better get some more witch-hazel before I head back or Mother will kill me._

Just as I stood up to do so, a large chakra burst came from the village in a familiar pattern. _Crap! It's the intruder alert!_ I dropped everything and started running back to the village, summoning Seth along the way.

"What do you want Lori? I was just…" he began to say, but I cut him off.

"The village is being attacked. Go to Master Akira and warn her." He nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

I raced into town and saw at least one hundred of the enemy being held back by ten or so ninja at the main gate. My hands started flying at high speeds, doing the signs of one of my favorite jutsu. "Ninja Art, Lightning Arrow!" I yelled, and twenty of the enemy that were in my way were burned to ashes by a streak of blue lightning.

I saw Satoshi, head of the outer village defensive unit and dashed up behind him, stabbing his attacker with a kunai. "Status report!" I roared above the din of clashing metal.

Satoshi sliced one man right down the middle. "We are being attacked by an unknown village. They got past the unit at the foot of the mountain somehow without triggering any alarms. Most of the civilians are in the safe houses already. The central village defense unit is guarding them." I slammed one small ninja into the wall with my fist, crushing her windpipe. "Casualties among the civilians are small; around five or so. They were the ones at the gate when the attack began. We have no word of how the base unit fared," he informed me, all the while fighting off the enemy. I cursed under my breath. _How could they have gotten past them with no warning at all? _

I continued to smash my way through, taking out as many of the enemy as I possibly could. They were weak, but such a large amount was a problem for our small village. Several of our men were down, but I got most of the enemy at the gate. A tiny origami dragon landed on my shoulder and it whispered in my ear, _"The enemy has broken through the Southern and Western gates. Most are coming to the safe house, but a few are making their way to the Eastern end. Get there immediately. Your father is attempting to get Ryu and your mother before they arrive. I will guard the safe house."_ Then the presence disappeared.

I nodded, knowing that the voice had belonged to Master Akira, the woman who was the current Dragon Keeper. Her strength was enough that she could guard the safe house alone, if need be. She was also smart enough to know that I would have gone to the East end if she hadn't ordered it. It was better to just let me go.

I was confident that I could survive this battle. I was worried about Mother, Father, and Ryu though. Mother was due to have her baby in less than two days and Father was supposed to be retiring from active duty right after that. Ryu still hadn't woken up, but that wasn't too strange because he could sleep for days after Coal tries to take over.

I cautiously looked for any sign of entry before I made my way into my house. Slowly, I twined around the stairs and opened the door to my mother's room. I let out a gasp as hundreds of chakra strings wrapped around my body like a cocoon.

A deep, monotonous voice said behind me, "The young are so predictable."

Another, more emotional voice said, "Yeah, hun, you could have at least come through the window or something. Though I suppose doing that would be cliché for a ninja."

I struggled with all of my might to burst out of my prison but failed. I was still too tired from the weeks in the mountains and the battle to get across town. A gasp escaped my lips as I saw my mother and father wrapped in chains of chakra-coated gunk. Father's face was covered in blood and burns, but mother had been untouched.

A blonde man came out from behind me and petted my head. "Oh, you don't know how much I want to make art out of you. You would be gorgeous, blown to smithereens, hun." I felt my hair being pulled at and saw that he had mouths on his hands. I jerked my head away in disgust.

Getting loose of the chakra strings was my only chance, so I pumped a large burst of my own chakra through them. More strings wrapped around me in response. "Stop struggling. It is pointless." There was a moment's pause. "Deidara, stop fooling around. You know that explosions aren't art," the monotonous voice continued. He stayed behind me, refusing to come into view.

I blocked out their bickering about art, puppets, and explosions as I looked at my unconscious mother and father. Their weapons were with them, but weren't of much use. As I waited for some brilliant idea to come to me, I couldn't help but stare. There was something ominous about their appearances. Mother's red hair looked especially bright up against her pale skin. Blood streaked Father's own dark locks, the sight making me cringe.

I struggled more. The strings wrapped around me tighter, causing at least two ribs to crack under the pressure.

"We'll continue this argument later. Woman, look at me." My head involuntarily turned towards a young guy with red hair, blank eyes, and a mouth built for indifference. "My name is Sasori. This is Deidara. We are with the Akatsuki." I gulped, knowing about the infamous organization. "We have come to learn the secrets of sealing dragons into human bodies."

My mind immediately flashed to Ryu, who had had a dragon sealed inside of him to save the village from its terrible wrath in a way similar to how the Hokage of the Leaf Village had sealed the Nine-Tail Fox.

"Tell us how to do it and we will make your deaths swift. If not…you will not like the consequences." Sasori's voice was that of someone speaking of the weather, not life and death.

I remained silent, thinking of something, anything to do. There would be no back up in this situation. Ryu was out of commission and I was trying to save Mother and Father. Even Master Akira was unavailable.

Giving the two the information they wanted was out of the question. They could (and probably would) kill thousands with that sort of power. And I had vowed never to let anyone get their hands on the secret.

So I just looked at both Akatsuki members as sharply as I could, still pumping as much of my chakra down the strings as possible, looking for a weak spot. The red head raised one eyebrow delicately. "I see. Well, if that is how it shall be... I gave you fair warning. Now you will pay," said Sasori. I shivered involuntarily.

"Wait a minute," Deidara put in quickly, "Why don't we try and torture it out of her first? This girl may be one of the strongest ninja of her generation, but I think I could get it out of her. Or maybe one of the others could when we get back." I didn't like the sound of that. It seemed like they had a lot of information on me too, which made me want to puke my guts up in disgust.

Sasori turned. "Look into her eyes, Deidara, and tell me that we can break her without taking from her that which is most precious."

The blonde did what he was told. "I'm not going to watch her be turned into your disgusting art. When you're done, I'll finish her."

A feeling of great fear rose up in me as I saw the man shudder before closing the door behind him. _One of the infamous Akatsuki __**shuddered**__ at what is about to be done to me. This can't be good._ But my hope for survival was renewed as I felt the chakra strings loosening. _Wait for it…wait for it…now!_ I lunged for my father's sword by his side but was stopped once again by chakra strings. This time, they had been attached at my chakra points.

"What the hell!" I yelled as I started reaching down again, not of my own accord.

"I will make you take away what is most precious to you. It will make you talk." My hands picked up the Fang and Wing. My arm reached out to snake a cut along my Father's face.

He awoke from his slumber, eyes flashing bright green. "Lori! What are you doing?" he asked as I continued on towards my mother, doing the same.

"Honey! What is going on! Oh my God, Lori!" she cried.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. I am not the one doing it. He is!" My arm holding the sword rose up high into the air above my mother's protruding stomach.

"Stop it! Stop it! Let me go and face me like a man," I yelled at Sasori, but his face remained blank. "I'll…I'll tell you everything! Just let me go!" I lied.

Time slowed for a moment. He looked deep into my eyes, studying them carefully as if they were an interesting book to read. Not once before in my life had anyone looked into my soul like that, laying it out bare for anyone to see. In any other situation, those grey orbs might have pulled a bit at my heart. There was a profound amount of sadness there and the tired look of someone who had seen too much.

But right then, that gaze cut into me more powerfully than any kunai could. Time sped up as Sasori took the breath needed to respond. For a second, I had a glimmer of hope…

"No."

The sword swung down and sliced open my mother's stomach. She shrieked so loud that human ears could no longer hear her voice. The baby boy she was going to have fell out of her body, twitching and crying. It was still alive. Bloody, but breathing.

"I said I'd tell you everything. I can still save them. Stop it!" This time I was sincere, and I thought he was going to give in as my hand's reached down to grab the baby. For a moment, I thought I had control back.

I was wrong.

I grabbed the baby by the neck and brought it right before my mother's eyes, already starting to glaze over in anguish and death. My father's shouting could be heard in the background.

"My…let me hold…baby…Give my… Ryuusei t-to me." She reached her chained arms out. Involuntarily, my hands snapped the baby's neck in half with a sickening crunch. Mother's blue-grey eyes, so much like my own, widened in horror. Then she simply fell over and died.

"No!" bellowed my father and my voice mingled in with his. He literally broke his arms and legs struggling against the chains in his attempt to reach my mother. I threw the baby to his feet, bloody marks skidding along the floor.

Father roared inhumanly, cursing, crying, ranting, before he suddenly went quiet. "Kill me," he whispered to the evil bastard controlling me.

"No, no, no! Don't make me do it! I beg you! P-please! I'll do whatever you want. Just don't make me do it." Sasori's slate grey stare fell upon me once more; whatever humanity I had found in those eyes before was wiped out of existence.

I unfurled my mother's fan and got down to my father's level. He was looking at the baby, still attached by the umbilical cord to my mother's womb. "Ryuusei. A man's name. Fitting for my son," he breathed. Then he looked up at me with empty green eyes and smiled. His voice was thick with physical and emotional pain. "I love you, Lorraine. Take good care of yourself and Ryu."

"Father! No!" I screeched, tears streaming down my face in waves as I slit his throat. I read my mother's name on his lips as he fell forward, just an inch from the baby he so desperately wanted to hold.

Blood was everywhere, turning everything into a bright crimson blur. I didn't bother to struggle anymore. There was nothing Sasori could do to me now. I was done with this life. My entire family was dead by my own hands.

My body turned towards the thing that made me do this. Behind him, a mirror was hung on the wall, showing me my own reflection. Blood. Red. Death. Trail marks made by tears were the only part of me not saturated with blood.

"Now, tell me how to put a dragon into a human body," the monster said, stepping closer to me.

"No," I whispered. There was no reason to tell him. He had already taken away any leverage he had with me. At least I could die with some dignity.

He stepped closer, but I didn't resist, even as he put a cold hand onto my permanently stained cheek. "This is real art. The blankness of it all, how I can make you do as I please." Sasori's fingers were as dead as I felt.

"Deidara doesn't understand. His so-called art is fleeting. But my art, my puppets, can be alive forever," he said as he moved his hands, making me dance around gracefully. The stare he gave me might be mistaken for love, but it was more like a twisted sense of ownership.

"However," Sasori stopped, "There is also a spark of light still left in those dark eyes of yours. 'Hope' is what I think you would call it. Now, why is that?" He pondered for a moment, moving me around again in a circle of spraying blood and metal.

If he were more like a real person, he might have snapped his fingers. "Ah, yes. Your father said that he was coming to save her and someone else close by. Maybe that is the reason for your hope. We shall see."

The two of us moved out of the building through a window. I just barely caught a last glimpse of the carnage I had caused before we jumped up into Ryu's bedroom. He was still fast asleep, covered in bruises and bandages. _Maybe if I act like I don't care, this bastard will leave him alone._ I looked at him blankly as if to say, 'why am I still here?'

A cold, harsh chuckle burst from the red head's lips. It held no humor at all. "You can't fool me, my dear. I can feel your heart race, your sweat trickling down your cheek and how you long to strain your muscles against me again to reach for this boy. I can tell; this is your last connection to this world." I felt my arm rise again, but did not scream.

There was nothing I could do. No way to fight back against him. If I had to kill the brother of my heart, I would make sure I did it painlessly. Slicing his throat now would be the quickest. I grimaced at the thought. _Now I can't even bring up the will to fight it._

My arm stopped mid swing. "So, this is how it is? No, a swing of a sword is too quick, you're right. Death by the famous lightning of the Dragon Mountain should suffice." The two of us went down in front of the two buildings and Deidara showed up.

He actually looked at me sympathetically. "Sorry, hun. I wouldn't have made you do that. I would have just killed you from the beginning." I actually believed him. What reason would he have to lie? The blonde glared at the red-head. "We don't need to know about sealing dragons. It's stupid. Why don't we stop wasting our time here and get going with the real deal?"

Sasori glared at him with a killing intent. "My art hasn't been finished." My hands started doing the signs for one of the most powerful attacks that I knew. I started to panic again. With Ryu unconscious, he could never escape it. Deidara looked away once again.

Suddenly, even my ability to speak was taken away from me. My voice was as flat as the puppeteer's as I said, "Ninja Art: Dragon Wave."

A giant blue serpent of pure energy flew from my outstretched arms, coating everything in reach of its mighty wings with an electrical charge. When it passed over completely, a gust of chakra-infused wind set those charges ablaze. Ryu's house and my home were up in flames in an instant. I stood there gasping, as the tongues of fire licked up the sides of his bedroom window. This time, I couldn't even scream. From where I was, I could feel the scorching heat. Then I was turning around again, but not before I caught a glimpse of Ryu banging at the window, trying fruitlessly to get out of the inferno. There was a crash and I knew the buildings had collapsed.

Sasori stared at me. For once, there was a hint of amusement in his voice. Just a touch, as if he had put a single granule of sugar in his tone. "Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. I wish that you could see yourself. You're a perfect murderous doll, covered in blood and basking in the glow of flames as the light flickers against your sword." The man was practically purring.

"Oh, but those eyes are the best. Pure blackness. Nothing is left. I could tear you limb from limb and you wouldn't even twitch. You, Lorraine Arashi, will be the best doll I have ever made." I almost didn't hear him. Something in the back of my blank mind was slowly coming to the surface.

"This is the most fun I have had in ages," he continued, still eyeing me as if I was a horse for inspection. "I will let you go for now. Maybe, in the time that I am gone, you will regain that spark of hope. Then I can have fun again. But know this," the bastard said, an inch from my nose, "You will be caught by me again. You will kill all of those that you love. And most of all, you will be mine."

The chakra strings loosened and fell off me, but I could still feel them like snakes. I didn't even notice the two villains jump on a giant clay bird and fly off. A thought kept creeping up as I turned to look at the ruins and all of the ninja made it to the wreckage. Their questions and gasps of astonishment went unnoticed by me. It was on the tip of my tongue as the village elders hobbled their way up to me, screaming at me to answer them and snap out of it.

That thought finally hit me. _They're dead and I killed them._ I started to walk off into the forest that led to the base of the mountain. Nothing that was said or done to me got past the constant mantra that was buzzing through my head.

~Back to Present, Lori's POV~

"To be completely honest, I don't remember what happened after that. Seth said that I followed the enemy ninja and killed each and every single one slowly and painfully. Medici, my other dragon, helped me with that. Supposedly she cut off the blood flow to the limb I was demolishing so that my victim didn't die quickly. I killed so many that I broke the Fang and Wing."

I pulled at my hair, ripping some of it out in my frustration. "And you know what? After all that, I couldn't even kill myself! I kept thinking, 'Why don't you just not fight back when someone attacks? It'd be quick that way.' I-I just couldn't do it. I told myself that once I told Kyo and his family that Mother and Father were dead, I would attack the Hokage and get myself killed. But obviously, that didn't happen. And you know the rest," I murmured, looking at the ground.

It actually felt somewhat nice knowing that I wasn't going to be lying anymore and that I could leave without my friends missing me. No one would miss a monster. _The Hokage is out of the question now, and Gaara would probably stop the Kazekage from having me executed. Maybe I could go to the Mizukage…_

"Is that all you have to say?" Shikamaru inquired, breaking me from my thoughts about my suicide. I nodded, droplets splashing to the ground with the rest of the rain.

"Well, I guess that is it then… You can let go of the jutsu now."

He did and I started to limp towards the trees again. "Where are you going?" he asked, and I turned to him.

"Leaving, of course. Where else?"

Shika gave me that you-aren't-worth-the-trouble look. "Um, the hospital would be a good place to start. You struggled so much that you wounds have reopened. Then we have to go back and get you cleaned up so we can go to your birthday party. I spent a lot of effort decorating, you know." I just stared at him in astonishment.

The ninja started to walk off, but when he noticed I wasn't following, he turned back to look at me. "Hurry up! I'm cold, wet, and hungry," he continued, still acting like his normal self.

"D-didn't you hear me?" I asked, my jaw still on the floor.

He waved his hand nonchalantly. "Yeah, yeah, I heard you. You killed you parents and thought you killed Ryu. Suicide isn't good, but moping out here in the rain isn't going to help either. Let's go back home. I'm sure there are some good therapists around here. I'll ask Ino; she'd know."

_Dear Lord, this guy is absolutely insane!_ I thought, flinching away from him.

"Let me spell it out for you. The Akatsuki are after me. They will have me kill anyone I care about with my own hands when they find me. That includes you, your family and most of the ninja of this village. And there was nothing I could do to stop them last time. The logical thing for me to do is leave so no one will die. Simple enough."

Shikamaru stepped towards me and took a deep breath. "Newsflash; Naruto is one of the people the Akatsuki are after. The main person, really. Do you see us running around in fear? Our ninja are the best to deal with this situation and having one more target here won't be much of a difference."

Shika continued after a moment, this time shuffling a bit on his feet. "I know from what Ryu said that you knew what was happening here when you were gone because of a dragon. So you know how…badly…I took your death. That shows that you are my friend. When you almost died after saving my life, I stayed by your bedside the whole time. Do you really think that I would do that if I didn't care about you?"

I shook my head, dumbfounded. This time, when he spoke, he took a step forward and grabbed my hand gently. "This way of life and the consequences of it can't be how we define ourselves. Now, let's go back home." The second our hands touched, a memory from the darkness broke through my confusion.

"You were the one holding my hand the whole time?" I asked.

"Wait, how did you…"

"There were three people with me the whole time I was out. One was a cold, grainy mist, which must have been Gaara. Another was something that smelled of burning wood, which was Ryu now that I think about it. But there was a third one that was there the most. That person smelled like summer breezes and held my hand, pulling me away from the darkness. That was you." I looked at Shika, who was blushing slightly but was obviously bristling.

"I'm sorry if you wanted me to be your 'Consamin'ara'," he muttered bitterly and a look that I had seen on people's faces many times was cast at me.

"You don't even know what that means!" I yelled. For a moment, I completely forgot where I had been planning on doing. "Ryu and I are not, have not, and never will be together. It would be…I don't know…practically incest. Eww! Why does everyone always think that? The dude is basically my brother. That is what Consamin'ara means; the 'Brother of my Heart'."

"Then what does She'ara mean?" he asked quietly and since I was still on a rant, I responded without thinking.

"It means 'Keeper of my Heart'. The Dragon keeper is called She'Ryuu. Jesus, remember your history lessons, idiot," I huffed in exasperation.

"I don't really understand your culture, but 'Keeper of my Heart' sounds a little off." Shika wrung his hands a bit and I remembered that he didn't know what it meant.

I choked on my own breath, realizing it was too late. I'd already let the cat out of the bag. There was no way that I could brush him off and eventually he would have figured it out. _No time like the present._

"You are such an idiot sometimes, Shika. I called you She'ara because you are the one who has my heart! You're the reason why I left this wonderful place. If I killed the person I love most in this world, I would die along with him!" My face turned red as a beet. "That's it. I said it! Shikamaru Nara, I'm…"

And I was cut off as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. The kiss was soft yet firm, undemanding but possessive at the same time. That little fan girl voice inside of my head was screaming _'Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God_' and running around in circles, making me light-headed. I blamed that and my wounds for my trembling legs. A strong arm went around my waist to steady me and I relaxed a bit into his hold.

After a few blissful seconds, Shika pulled away only to bring me into a more solid embrace. His breath tickled my ear as I was engulfed in a cloud of euphoria. All I could think was, _I don't want to move. This wonderful dream will end if I move an inch._ My heart was bursting with joy and I relished in the feeling of warmth and safety that was Shika. I finally (and reluctantly) pulled away to gaze into his black eyes questioningly. The boy snatched my hands, almost desperate to keep the contact.

"You don't even know how long I've been waiting to do that," he answered. Again, I gave him a look. "At first, I didn't because I didn't know how much you meant to me. But when you left, all I could think about was you. How much I missed your laugh, your smile, and your strange but delicious cooking. How I missed you getting frustrated at shogi and how peaceful you were when you fell asleep under the clouds." I knew exactly how he had felt and squeezed his hands, trying to convey the message.

He smiled slightly and continued. "After that, I thought I was going crazy when I saw a little dragon flitting around and a woman in the stands of the chunin exams who knew I was going to quit the moment I did myself." The sadness in his voice was palpable. "Then you came back, bloody and in a coma after saving my life. While at your bedside, I figured out exactly how I felt. I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost you a second time. " Shika's voice was steady, but his hands were shaking slightly. I took some initiative and wrapped my arms around him in a hug.

We just stood there, enjoying the comfort of each other's presence.

Reality rushed back and my happy dream was shattered. I untangled myself from his grasp. "This doesn't make the situation any different. The Akatsuki are still targeting me and I could still kill you and everyone in this village against my will. There is no way I could live with that."

As he opened his mouth to reply, another voice sprang up from behind us. "Don't worry about that. Uzumaki Naruto will protect you and everyone else in this village. It's good training for when I'll be Hokage. Believe it!"

Kakashi Hatake appeared behind him. "I'll help out too. You may be from Dragon Mountain, but you are now a part of the Leaf Village ninja. And we stick together."

"I can't believe my bratty little cousin lied to me about what happened. But I'll forgive you this time; only if you forget that two-thousand dollar bet I made with you, of course. Can't have my free babysitter gone." Kyo came out from the trees, a bright burst of red against the green.

All of the people I came to know and love showed up, soaked to the bone in fancy outfits that should not get wet. Maito Guy had come forward in Lee's place, talking about the beauty of youth or some other rubbish. Everyone ignored him. Some made a comment like Naruto and Kakashi, but the silent nods of others like Sasuke and Gaara were just as comforting.

Shikamaru clasped my shoulder reassuringly and I looked up at him, a smile spread across my face. I quickly wiped away the last of my tears and walked toward the people I cared for just as a ray of sunshine burst through the clouds and shone down on the place I call home.


	29. Chapter 29

~Lori's POV~

It had been a week since I had gotten out of the hospital and Shika and I had confessed our feelings for each other. All of the other ninja had to go back to their normal routine, which meant that the Sand Siblings had to head home.

~Flashback~

"What do you mean, you want to live in the Sand Village?" I had screamed the night before they were set to leave. Ryu looked serious for once, so I immediately stopped my ranting.

"Well," he explained, counting on his fingers, "For one, I like the weather over there. I'm sick and tired of getting wet all the time. Dust and dirt is for me." I glared him down, and he went on explaining. "I also like the way that they run things in Suna. You can be brutal and ruthless and not get punished for it. The Hokage already ran my ass down after reading my records."

"Continue…" I murmured, knowing that the way he worked would hurt the Leaf Village a lot more than it would help. The Sand Village would actually benefit from his high energy.

"I also want to do it to help you and the Sand Siblings. Gaara needs me. You know that. With me around, he can sleep as much as he wants. I can also help him learn some control so that I can leave him and he would still be able to manage. If Gaara is okay, then I know you will have a lot less to worry about." I nodded again. Even though part of that explanation was just trying to win me over, it was all true.

"There is also the fact that I've already gotten a pretty bad vibe coming off of the Leaf and Sand shinobi when they are around each other. I can help with relations between us. Fifth and most important is that Kankuro and Temari still need to learn that Gaara isn't a monster. And if they are so freaky about him, the whole village will probably need to be whipped into shape." There was the twitch that he always does when he is nervous or lying.

"Oh. Okay. I'll just have to tell Temari that she isn't the most important reason that you want to go and live with them." Ryu blushed a bright pink as he protested, and I knew that he actually was falling for her.

~End Flashback~

"I packed all of your stuff: an extra shirt, pants, kunais, shurikens, underwear, loads of rice cakes, food money and some money for rent and stuff." I said happily as I passed Ryu his pack. He, Shikamaru, Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara were in front of the gate.

"Aw, Rain, why do you have to embarrass me so much?" he commented, snatching the pack from my hands. Both of the older siblings stifled giggles. Gaara's eyes wrinkled with mirth, though his mouth didn't even twitch.

I grabbed Ryu in a big bear hug and cooed like a mother duck, "Oooh, my baby brother is growing up so fast. Look at him, going to live on his own three days away from his sister. It makes me so sad!" Fake tears burst from my eyes as said brother turned purple.

Shikamaru tapped my shoulder and said lazily, "Um, he can't breathe."

I dropped Ryu and he croaked out coarsely, "I'll have you know that I am the older one, thank you. Even if it is only by five days."

I turned to Kankuro and Temari, handing them a list as long as a dictionary. "I don't trust him doing anything for himself. So could you help him find an apartment so he isn't cheated? And he can't cook worth a crap, so could you check up on him and make sure he hasn't starved. But he can clean dishes. He can help you with that. Oh, and before I forget, he can't…"

Temari clamped her hand over my mouth. "Don't worry about him, Lorraine. We can take care of him fine."

Kankuro whispered, "Yeah, Temari will help him out with anything he needs." We both collapsed in a fit of giggles as the obviously soon to be couple reddened and protested. Then I went over to the youngest of the trio.

"That was what I was forgetting!" I pulled a teddy bear out of bag that had a note attached to it with the bold letters TWIN on the front. "It is from Little Shiro. His mom and dad wouldn't let him get up early enough to meet us out here, but he wanted me to give this to you."

He gently took it from my hands and looked at it before putting the bear on the rope that held the gourd to his back. "Tell him I said thanks," Gaara murmured, and I wrapped him in a hug.

"Gaara-kun, take care of yourself and my little brother." The sand swished around me for a moment in about as much of a hug as he would ever give. Then he started to head out the gate. His siblings followed.

Ryu came up to me again and pulled me into an embrace. This time, I saw some actual tears build up in his eyes. "Don't be jealous of the moon, Consamin'ara. You can come and see me all the time. It is only three days away. And I'll come check up on you often, don't worry." He blinked the tears away quickly and gave me a swift peck on the cheek before rushing off to catch up.

Shikamaru came up behind me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders before asking "What does jealous of the moon mean anyway? You said it before you left, but I never figured it out." I laughed, pushing him away.

"Well, it is actually pretty simple. The moon, which is always waxing and waning, symbolizes happiness. The clouds that are jealous are the little annoying or sad things that happen in life. When the moon is around, the clouds cover them up because they are envious, and we can't see it. But the phrase literally means that when there is a chance for happiness, some stupid little things makes us sad and ruin it. So we shouldn't let silly things ruin happiness for us. Get it?"

Shika palmed his forehead and sighed, "Yeah. I don't know why I didn't before. You know, there is also another way you could think of it," he said as we turned to go back.

"And what is that, Mr. Genius?" I scoffed.

He looked up at the sky and the clouds that were overhead. "Even though we can't constantly see the moon, it is always there, whether it be covered by clouds or waning. So even though it doesn't seem like there is any chance for happiness, there always is."

I laughed again and he gave me an inquisitive look. "Oh, I just think it is funny that you actually took the effort to think about philosophy of all things. That's all." I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards our places. "Let's go play some shogi. I have to beat you one of these days."

_Hmm. _I pondered, looking at his face crinkled cutely in concentration while trying to decide his next move._ Even though it doesn't seem like there is any chance for real happiness, there always is. I wish I had found that out earlier. Oh well. Better late than never._

End

**Authors Note: This is the end people! It makes me sad because Jealous of the Moon was my most popular story, but that's okay. I'm just happy that I finished it after all of this time. If you want to see how rough the original version was, you can look on my Quizilla account on my profile page. It really sucked. My first attempt was 4 years ago. Holy shit, how time flies.**

**If enough people ask for it, I'll write a small couple chapter thing on how Lori effects (or is it affects?) the Shippuden Arc. I can tell you one thing, Sakura and Chiyo won't be the ones who kill Sasori, so an epic fight scene between the Master Puppeteer and the…. Dragon of Konoha will take place. (Do you think that nickname is too presumptuous? Give me some more ideas or some feedback! I never got to do any cool fight scenes, which are my favorite things to write… what a shame!) **

**There might also be a future future time skip in the making as well. But, that won't even be a possibility unless I get at least 50 total reviews for this story and 20 requests for the Shippuden version. (These can be combined, but I won't accept 10 'Woohoo, that was awesome. Do more!'s)**

**Thank you for enjoying my story, and I wish all of you a lifetime without jealousy of the moon.**

**xxAwesomeLucyxx**


End file.
